


A Step Outside the Door

by ThatOneFangirlTho



Series: A Knocking At The Door (Underfell AU) [2]
Category: A Knocking at the Door, Underfell - Fandom, Underfell AU - Fandom, Undertale
Genre: A Knocking at the Door 2, Explosions, Guess Who's Back, IT'S DULIO, Past Abuse, Past Events, Sequel, Swearing, Underfell, Underfell AU, bad choices, determinaton, pacifist run, past/referenced medical experimentation, things going boom, undertale - Freeform, you should really read the first one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-10-28 12:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10831050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneFangirlTho/pseuds/ThatOneFangirlTho
Summary: After Sans, Papyrus, and Toriel have found the closest thing they could probably ever get to peace in the Ruins, a human falls down into the Underground and turns their world upside down.SEQUEL TO A KNOCKING AT THE DOOR!





	1. Fallen Down

**Author's Note:**

> *gasp*  
> I'M ALIVE, BLESS  
> (sorry that took so long, I have had state testing for two weeks straight... and come next week that will be three weeks straight, so I've been pretty busy. I only found a minute to post this because my school dance is tonight and I have nothing to do until then for the next five or so minutes. So, enjoy the first short (sorry about that too, the next part is like almost done!) part of the sequel to AKATD!

It was Sans’ turn to check for humans this week, which meant he had to walk through the entirety of the Ruins every day and make sure none of the puzzles had been set off. Sometimes he hated it, but sometimes it was nice to do it. Now was one of those times where he was actually enjoying it, which came as a slight surprise to him. But it didn't matter how peaceful or happy it made him feel right now; because for Toriel, Papyrus, and Sans alike, their world was about to be turned upside down. 

Sans had almost reached the end of the Ruins, his last stop before he could go back home when he heard voices echoing off the walls of the cave. At first, he thought he was hearing things, but as he crept closer to the end of the Ruins, they got louder and clearer. He couldn't recognize the voices, so he was on guard, ready for almost anything. Sans pressed his back to the last wall before the entrance to his final destination, sucked in a deep breath, and went into the room. 

There was a child, a human child, sitting on the buttercups. They looked a little roughed up, with their brown hair all messed up, scuffed pink and blue striped shirt and blue shorts, and worn out looking shoes. They were talking to someone, and when Sans turned a little he could see a living flower next to them, talking back to them. “O-oh,” was all he could manage at first. Both the child's head and the flowers whipped around to face him. 

The flower came in front of the child, growing taller with thorned vines growing up around it, ready to strike Sans. The flower growled at him, and Sans started to back away until the child spoke again. “Flowey! Don't! Let's at least give him a chance,” they shouted at him. Flowey drew back some and looked at the human. “But we can't trust anyone down here! I told you that they would kill you at the first chance they get!” He retaliated. 

Sans decided to step in now, “h-hey listen bud,” he said, unintentionally making a pun. “I don't w-want any trouble. I-I'm definitely not gonna hurt the kid; I made a promise and I am gonna k-keep it.” The kid smiled at Sans, and Flowey groaned and went back to them, shrinking to his original size. “See, I told you so,” they bragged to the flower. 

Sans walked up to the child and extended a skeletal hand, “here kiddo, let me help you.” The flower shook his head again, trying to tell them not to, but they accepted Sans’ help. Flowey facepalmed as best as he could since he was a flower, and the human stood on shaky legs. It was obvious to Sans that they were very weak from the fall, not to mention whatever happened to get them down here. 

“My name is Frisk,” the told him with a smile. Sans shook their hand, “mine’s Sans, Sans the skeleton.” He glanced back the way he came in, “we better get going back to my house, Tori and Paps will want to meet you.” Flowey popped back up between Sans and Frisk, preventing him from taking their hand again and teleporting them back to his house. 

“No way skeleton!” He said, glaring daggers at Sans. Sans sighed, he really didn't want to fight this flower, not in front of the kid anyway. He didn't want to scare them since they would be staying in the Ruins with him. “Oh, come on. The kids cool with it, right Frisk? Anyway, we would just be staying with my brother and my friend,” he told him, trying to appease Flowey so they could go home and not have future incidents. “You can come too if you’d like,” he added. Maybe if he stayed with the kid he’d be okay with it. 

Flowey was silent for a moment, trying to think it over. “Please,” Frisk begged the flower. Flowey sighed angrily, “alright, alright,” he said. Suddenly his face morphed into a more sinister one, enough to scare anyone else if they had felt threatened, “but if you hurt one hair in this kids head, I. Will. K I L L. Y O U.” Sans stared at the flower, seemingly unphased by Flowey’s threat. 

“Okay,” Sans shrugged. Frisk smiled and Flowey trailed his way up their arm, wrapping himself around it. “How far away is your house?” Frisk asked politely. Sans turned around and glanced back where he had entered from again. He really didn't feel like dragging the kid through all those puzzles right now and was pretty sure they were too tired to keep up anyway. So, he held out his hand and said, “I know a shortcut.”


	2. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone meets Frisk!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O.o   
> I HAVE BEEN SO BUSY!!! IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY!!! I'VE HAD SO MANY EXAMS! (Everyone bombed the science exam... I got an 88, but the highest in the entire grade was a 94... I hope he grades it on a curve XD)   
> I'm so sorry for not updating! I have a three more chapters done, I just haven't time to post them! I'm working on the next one right now but it's the end of the school year and I'm going to have to leave all my friends for good... D:   
> Also, the chapter is very long so far, I'm probably going to split into two parts. Anyway,   
> ENJOY THESE CHAPTERS!  
> (Ima be quiet now)

Frisk took his hand, and Sans teleported them all. After a flash of red light overtook them, they were in the living room of the house in the Ruins. “Tori, Papyrus, get in here now please,” he shouted. Toriel poked her head out from the kitchen, and Papyrus came from his bedroom. Both of their eyes widened and they approached the human. “Oh my goodness!” Toriel exclaimed, rushing toward them. 

But Flowey didn't like that at all, so he once again created several attacks and surrounded both himself and Frisk. Toriel stopped in her tracks and So did Papyrus, who had hardly made it into the room. “Oh yeah, I f-forgot to mention the insane flower insisted o-on coming with them,” Sans said sarcastically. Flowey turned and growled at Sans, who rolled his eye lights. 

“Flowey,” Frisk scolded, “we haven't even met these monsters yet! Don't just go around attacking everyone we meet, especially if they are friends of our friend.” Toriel had backed off some, holding her paws up in front of herself, trying to communicate that she meant them no harm. Flowey looked at her, then turned to look at Papyrus, who was also backing off uncertainly. 

Flowey growled at all of them and let his attacks fizzle away, letting some of the tension in the room fizzle away as well. Frisk smiled again and let Flowey crawl down off their arm while he was muttering something to himself. Sans couldn't make it out, but with what little he knew about the flower from his behavior past few minutes of interacting with him, he could bet it was curses or something about how Frisk shouldn't trust them. Although the flower did seem vaguely familiar to him, from where exactly he wasn't sure… 

Flowey stood off to the side and watched as Toriel closed the gap between her and Frisk. “Are you alright my child?” She asked them. Frisk began to nod, but then changed their mind and shook their head. Toriel’s ‘mom mode’ was activated and she quickly looked them over, noticing every bruise and scratch they had. “That much have been quite a fall,” she said as she started to heal them. 

Her healing magic was working, and Frisk could feel their HoPe rising back to normal. “Boys,” Toriel addressed Sans and Papyrus, “Can you prepare the guest bedroom please?” Sans glanced at Papyrus, who was looking at the human with a calculating expression and started to go back to the guest room. “S-sure Tori,” he said, tapping Papyrus to make sure he came too. 

Papyrus stared at the kid for another moment before turning and following his brother to the guest room. One of the modifications they had made during their stay was the guest room, which was literally the storage room. It had a folded panel that stretched across the room so that all the other items in it could be hidden from sight but still obtainable. There was already a bed, a nightstand, a wardrobe, and a box of toys out in plain sight in one-half of the room. 

All Sans and Papyrus had to do was to pull out the panel and make sure everything in the room was orderly enough. It always was pretty clean in the half they used as a guest room, but the help they used for storage could be chaotic if you didn't know where to look. Sans entered the room first, with his younger brother following behind him. He closed the door, which Sans found slightly odd, but he didn't say anything. 

“I have an odd feeling about them,” Papyrus said, glancing back to the closed door. Sans raised and eyebrow, “w-why’s that?” He asked, starting to move the panel. Papyrus looked at the door again as he spoke, “I'm not sure… But I thought that a human would be… A little more violent, like the other monsters in the rest of the underground…” 

Sans looked back at his brother. “That's at least how the guard said they were,” Papyrus muttered as he went to help his brother with the panel. “W-well, we should try and g-get to know them since they will probably b-be staying with us…” Sans said, tugging on the panel. He turned to his brother, who was also helping to move the panel, “We’all make s-sure they’re nice first.” 

Papyrus grumbled to himself, “that is a big rule around here.” When Papyrus has felt like training or just needed to release some anger he would have normally fought with another monster, but Toriel made sure he would practice alone or take his anger out on an inanimate object. The already broken pillars near the ‘entrance’ to the Underground had suffered quite a bit thanks to him. Once he had tried training with his brother, but after Sans had actually started trying Papyrus had quickly realized his brother could beat him in a sparring match and in a real fight if it ever happened. 

Once the panel had been pulled out they exited the room and went back to the living room to see how the child was doing. Toriel has healed almost every wound that had, but it seemed some places might come open and make the injury last a little longer. Sans noticed this and teleported back into the closed off portion of the newly dubbed guest room and grabbed the first aid kit. Everyone knew where it was since everyone had been forced to use it at some point during their crazy charade up until this point. He then teleported back into the living room and handed it to Toriel. 

“Thank you, Sans,” she politely said. Frisk smiles at him and winced when she tried to put some bandages on a sore spot where a bigger gash had been. “Papyrus,” Toriel said to him while she wrapped the bandages around Frisk’s arm, “could you cook something for us all? I know it's not your turn, but I would really appreciate it.” Papyrus nodded and walked into the kitchen to start cooking. “So we need four plates and cups then?” He asked, making sure to get all of them from the cabinet. 

Frisk turned their small head towards the kitchen, or what they presumed was the kitchen since Papyrus had walked into there when asked to cook. “Five,” Frisk corrected him. Sans looked at the extra guest, who was looking back at him with an unreadable expression. Once Flowey noticed Sans was looking at him he looked away and moved over to Frisk. “How are you feeling Frisk?” He asked them as Toriel wrapped their wounds with the bandages. 

Frisk looked at their flower friend, “I'm feeling much better Flowey,” they said reassuringly. Flowey smiled and muttered, “good…” Toriel smiled at both of them. “I am glad you are feeling well my child,” she said just as she finished wrapping the last spot. 

Sans continued to look at the flower, confused as to why he had been looking at him so strangely. It seemed that he wasn’t much of a threat when put in comparison to any of their powers, but they weren’t about to just push him away either. Sans didn’t know much about him yet and wanted to make sure to keep him on his good side since he didn’t have much knowledge about him yet, especially since the one thing he did know was that he was dead set on protecting this kid. 

The smell of pasta made Sans aware of a small problem regarding dinner. First, he didn’t know if the kid or the flowey could or would eat it and they didn’t currently have out a large enough table to sit them all. He once again teleported to the storage room, but this time he wanted another small table. Sans saw one up near the ceiling and grabbed it with his magic before teleporting them both back into the living room. He had learned the hard way that it was a bad idea to try and get stuff down with blue magic before teleporting in out of the room. That had been a mess. 

He gently maneuvered the table to be right next to the one that the three monsters had been using for as long as they had been together in the Ruins. Sans carefully unfolded the legs of the fold-out table with his magic and moved all of their chairs around the two tables. Two of them would have to sit on the couch, but other than that they would have just enough space. 

“Sans, could you come help me with the plates?” Papyrus called from the kitchen. “Sure P-Pap,” Sans replied, making his way to his brother. Meanwhile, Toriel led Flowey and Frisk to their seats at the table. The skeleton brothers emerged with five plates. It sorta looked like a balancing act, but none of the plates were dropped. Papyrus went back into the kitchen to get silverware while Sans asked them all what they wanted to drink. 

Soon enough everyone had a plate of spaghetti, silverware to use, despite the fact that they didn't know if Flowey could use them, and something to drink. It was a nice setup and everything had worked out pleasantly well. Frisk was very polite and very grateful for the food, making Toriel think that either they were a very nice child or that they hadn't eaten much recently. Either way, Frisk was her child for now and all of them would make sure that they would always be taken care of from this point on.


	3. Flowey is a stalker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flowey stalks the inhabitants of the Ruins for a while and begins a chat with Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2nd part of the random update spree!   
> (I originally had this as one part, but it got a little long so I separated it into shorter parts. I was going to change it back but never had time... or motivation, lol)  
> anyway, ENJOY THE CHAPTER!

Frisk had been tucked into bed shortly after dinner. Flowey had gone with them, but not to sleep. As a flower, he didn't really need sleep, but it was nice to have it sometimes. He watched as Toriel gently tucked them in and kissed them goodnight on the forehead. She had left the room after that and Flowey had watched Frisk fall asleep and dream peaceful dreams. 

Shortly after he left the room and started to watch the three monsters from behind Toriel's chair. (Flowey you freaking stalker) Toriel was sweeping the floors in an orderly fashion while Sans and Papyrus were doing the dishes, one washing, one drying and placing them in the cabinet. As soon as everything in the house was cleaned and back in its place, Toriel told the skeletons that she was off to bed. Papyrus agreed, but when Sans gave no sign he would follow they asked him what he was going to do. 

“I… I-I think I'm gonna take a w-walk for awhile…” He said. Papyrus nodded, “Alright then Sans.” Toriel fished something out of her dress pocket. She pulled out a key and held it up, asking Sans if he would need it. “No,” he said, “y-you know me, Tori, I don't n-need keys.” Toriel put it back in her dress pocket and gave Sans a hug. They told each other goodnight and Toriel walked into her room and closed the door behind her. 

Flowey changed places so he could see a little better, now on the lowest part of the bookshelf with a few books surrounding him. It was a better view and he felt a lot more secure, which was good considering that these were the last two monsters in the Underground that he would like to find him out while spying on them. To his surprise, Papyrus bent down and gave his brother a hug. “G-goodnight, P-Pap,” Sans said, returns the hug. Papyrus smiled at him, “Goodnight, brother,” then he turned and walked down the hallway to his room. 

Sans sighed, then teleported to the other side of the Ruins door. Flowey followed him, making sure to stay a good distance back before catching up to the short skeleton. They were about halfway through the Ruins when Sans hesitated. Suddenly, magic surrounded Flowey and he felt his nonexistent heart drop. Next thing he knew, they were at the very beginning of the Ruins. 

Sans let Flowey free from his influence, leaving the nervous flower near the start of the room. Sans walked to the center, among the buttercups that the human had fallen on earlier and sat down, gazing at the moonlit Ruins around him. They were both silent for a minute, neither one saying a word. “Hey Flowey,” Sans finally said, breaking the quiet that had formed and scaring the flower, making him let loose a small gasp. “A-are you just going to sit there or are y-you going to come over here and d-do whatever it is you w-were going to to?” 

Flowey froze for a moment and didn't move. Figuring the skeleton would have killed him already if he had really wanted to do so, he popped up next to him. He was still a good three feet or so away, but his presence was still felt. Sans continued to stare upwards towards the one entrance to the underground. Flowey looked tried to see if he was looking for something specific, but after finding nothing interesting he guessed Sans was just being a weirdo. 

It was silent for a while. Not a sound penetrated the quiet that had settled over the bed of buttercups in the Ruins. It was nice, or at least Flowey thought so. It had been a while since he had come to the Ruins since he really didn't want to be seen by Toriel, and the chaos of the outside world was really starting to get to him, with monsters tearing apart other monsters and Flowey almost powerless to stop it. 

It was true that he could reset the world, but it had been awhile since he had messed with it. After countless failed attempts to make the monsters in the Underground see that murdering was not the way, to show love instead of LOVE, just to be kind to one another… The flower could only take so many tries until he finally gave up and lost hope. Even if he helped out one monster another would come and kill them for showing weakness. 

“... Well?” Sans broke Flowey out of his thoughts. He quickly shook his head and glanced up at the skeleton, who was still gazing off into the distance. He sucked in a deep breath and hesitated. “Have you heard of… Resets?” He asked quickly, not wasting time beating around the bush. Sans nodded slowly in response. 

“Not in any reset have I ever been able to get this to happen. Not ever,” he said quietly. Sans glanced at Flowey, who was looking down in thought. “I've never gotten your brother to be nice to you… And you've never tried running here before…” Flowey turned to meet Sans’ gaze. Sans was trying to read his expression, but with what little he could piece together about the Flower from his past memories, he wasn't one to hurt anyone on purpose. Not often anyway. 

“What I'm trying to say… Uh, ask is…” Flowey tilted his head some. “What happened?”


	4. Story be told

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation of the previous part, Sans and Flowey have a chat about how they ended up here. Questions are answered and created.   
> (I.e. I tried to write filler but it didn't really come out like filler)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last part of update spree! Don't worry, the next parts will be out very soon!  
> ANYWAY, ENJOY!!!  
>  (*coughs because yelling is hard on my throat)

Sans stared at him for a moment. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to say anything to the flower about what all had happened to get them here. It seemed that the flower would have seen some of it, but it had been a while since a reset had occurred, leading him to believe that he had missed some recent events. After a moment of consideration he sighed, “A-alright, I'll tell y-you.” 

Flowey smiled a little, he was curious about what had happened here and hadn't expected Sans to open up at all. “But,” Sans said, making the flower tense, “I-I want you t-to promise me s-something.” Flowey suddenly felt uneasy, Sans didn't like promises in general, he didn't like asking them of other monsters since they usually wouldn't care, and he hated being asked to keep one himself. 

“W-… What is it?” He asked cautiously. Sans looked the flower dead in the eyes and put out his eye lights. “Promise me you won't reset,” the seriousness of the skeleton scared him, and he knew he couldn't convince him to tell him for anything else. Flowey knew from past experience that he wouldn't let up any information or try negotiating more than once. A few resets were the price of that. 

But what did he have to lose? The skeleton brothers were finally happy, as well as his mom, the human was very kind and in no danger, and outside of the Ruins was actually beginning to calm for once. Undyne wasn't being as harsh lately since she had taken a beating from some mysterious monster that had really made her more cautious about starting unnecessary fights and her second was very calm until the need for a fight broke out. 

“I promise,” Flowey said, using one of his leaves to cross where his heart would have been had he been a monster with a heart. Sans smiled slightly at him. The small skeleton had no clue if the flower would have given up his power to change the world in exchange for the bit of information he was now going to give him, but he was filled with joy at the thought of actually being able to keep this turnout of events. 

“A-alright then.” Sans laid back on the buttercups, knowing it was going to be a while before he finished. “I-it all started after Pa…” He trailed off for a moment, “Boss g-gave me a p-pretty bad b-beating…” Flowey's petals drooped some after hearing this. “I-I was hurt r-really bad, and I knew I w-would dust if I d-didn't get help soon. I was r-ready to give u-up…” He paused for a moment, “b-but I remembered the lady behind t-the door.” 

Flowey raised an eyebrow, he hadn't thought that Toriel would just let Asgore knows who in the Ruins with her without some suspicion. He didn't say anything though, assuming that Sans would explain. “I went over t-to the door, a-and asked for her to h-help me…” Sans continued to look at the opening in the Underground as he spoke, different emotions making their presence known by flickering in his eye sockets. “Toriel a-almost didn't l-let me in,” he said, eye sockets darkening some, “b-but I somehow convinced h-her.” 

Flowey made a mental note to ask for Toriel's side of the story. Not directly, but maybe through the kid… He figured he’d have to fill them in before they asked too many questions to the other monsters and possibly upset them. “T-the next thing I kn-knew, she had taken me in a-and was fixing me up. We g-got to know each other, told corny j-jokes like old times…” Sans eye sockets changed to house a sort of bittersweet look in them. “Tori even offered to let me stay.” 

Flowey internally slapped himself for not sticking around the Ruins or Snowdin. Sans took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, “A-after a while I t-told her I would. It was great f-for a while, but eventually, B-Boss found his way here…” His expression darkened again. “Tori let me escape, a-and they fought each o-other until I teleported b-back and stopped them from k-killing each other. Tori knocked P-Papyrus out a-and I fixed him up.” Sans deliberately left out the part where he had almost gotten killed… Twice. He knew the flower might have some issues with that and didn't want to have to deal with it later. 

“Shortly after h-he woke up I g-got sick. Tori tried to t-take care of me, b-but eventually she H-had to ask for help. One night when Papyrus w-was watching me…” Sans trailed off for a moment. Tears gathered around his newly opened eye sockets. “S-something b-broke him… And he h-held me a-and told m-me how sorry he was… For everything…” Sans smiled brightly, some tears slipping down from the edge of his eye sockets. 

Flowey smiled some too. He was very glad to know that Papyrus, for whatever reason, had finally realized his mistakes. He wondered what made it occur though and made another mental note to really dig around for answers here. “W-we made up… A-and Toriel let us stay. Paps and I wanted t-to get some things from Snowdin though, s-so we a-all went out a-and got some stuff. Undyne jumped us, a-and she was going t-to turn us al, in, Tori to A-Asgore, me and Papyrus t-to the Royal Guard to b-be killed.” 

Flowey narrowed his eyes. He knew now that his father was a changed monster, a real monster who had corrupted the rest of the Underground. The flower couldn't imagine if Toriel, one of the few good monsters left, were to be turned back in to him. “Sh-she tried her b-best, but we got out. One good b-blast was all I-it took,” Flowey quickly made the connection of why Undyne had been absent from her position and seemingly a little weaker and scared than normal. 

Flowey turned his gaze to the skeleton, who still held a small smile on his face. “A-and here w-we are today,” he finished. It was quiet for a moment, Sans and Flowey letting everything sink in. For Sans, it was a crazy storyline how he was made the happiest monster he could be, and it felt like a small weight was let off after telling another monster. For Flowey it was all the information he received. A lot more things made sense now, and he wished that he had made himself aware of it and had actually tried to explore these areas instead of being depressed and just watching time fly by. 

“Thank you, Sans,” Flowey said. He actually was grateful that he had been told all this. “Thanks for filling me in.” Sans grinned some and sat up, turning to face the flower. “I'm really glad that you, your brother and mo- Toriel can all get along,” he said. It took a second for his mistake to go to his head, and he tried not to let it show, hoping that Sans would ignore his little mistake. Sans’ grinned widened some. “Y-you really are A-Asriel, aren't you?” He asked, wanting to have his hunch confirmed. 

Flowey Started to think of some excuse to say that he wasn't but stopped before he said anything. “Please don't tell anyone,” he half begged, “especially not Toriel! That never ends well…” Sans chuckled. “Your secret’s s-safe with me,” he smiled. Moving on, Sans changed the subject back to their deal. “A-are you going to k-keep up your end o-of the deal?” Sans asked him. Flowey nodded his head happily, knowing that he could save this nice turnout of events and protect it forever. “In fact,” he said, “I think I'll save right now!” 

Sans grinned, happy to know this ending would stay how it was. After a moment of silence, Flowey muttered something. Sans asked what he said, and the little flower turned to him with panic written across his expression. “W-where's my save button!?” He shouted, “it's not here! I-I can't reach it…” Flowey's head tilted downward and Sans’ eye lights went out. “W h a t?” He said in disbelief. (More like disbeLEAF *badum tiss*) “P-please tell me y-you’re pranking me,” Flowey shook his head no. 

Flowey started to hyperventilate. “No, no, no no, NO!” He shrieked, “this CAN'T be happening!” Sans tried not to let panic seize his soul, trying to of any explanation for this. He guessed that Flowey wasn't lying since he mostly had good intentions and was having a panic attack next to him. Maybe he had lost the ability or it had become harder to reach since he hadn't used it on so long? The small skeleton shook his head. ‘There must be a reason for this…’ He thought, trying to find a logical explanation to help calm the flower down. 

Said flower was currently muttering to himself, “nononononono, this isn't real, it's all a dream, this isn't happening, no no nononono.” Flowey curled in on himself, letting his panic take hold. It seemed that all of the world was lost to him in that moment as he continued to lose his grip. “I-it's all a dream… Where everything feels like reality…” He tried to snap out of it, reminding himself that if this was real that he could handle it. The small flower always could in the past, but he had always had the reset button there to help him. 

Flowey suddenly felt helpless, powerless, completely terrified of what was to come. The one power that he had since being stuck as this stupid flower was the one thing that let him have some sort of control in his life. The one thing that could let even the smallest shred of hope and love flourish, even if it was only for a moment. Why did he have to lose it now, when it was quite possibly the most important time to have it? 

“DAMMIT!” He screamed, listening as the shout echoed and bounced off the walls of the cavern. Sans moved a little further away from him when he yelled, flinching at the loud voice. “H-hey, F-Flowey,” he said as a thought crossed his mind. Flowey did not do anything in response. It was like he hadn't even heard Sans talking. With the condition of anger, confusion, and panic he was feeling it was quite possible he didn't hear him. 

Flowey summoned some of his attacks and shot them at the pillars in anger, screaming in anger as he shot each one. Sans backed off a little more before trying to approach him again. “F-F-Flowey?” He whispered, trying to keep himself calm and trying to make the flower much calmer than he was acting right now. He gently put a hand on the flower to let him know he was there. Sans would have put his hand in the flowers shoulder but he was a flower and didn't have any shoulders. 

Flowey jerked at the sudden touch and shot an attack towards where it had come from. It hit its target despite Flowey's lack of knowledge of where to aim, and a small cry of pain came from the newly injured skeleton. His hand had fallen away from the flower to clutch at his skull where the flower’s magic hit him. Flowey was snapped out of his angry, panicked trance and turned to look at the skeleton. 

He could see through misty eyes that Sans was clutching nearest the large crack in his skull. Flowey stared at him for a moment before moving a little closer. “S-Sans?” He opened his left eye and looked at Flowey. “Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that,” he quickly said, rushing some of his words. He quickly checked the small skeleton, hoping he hadn't put him within an inch of his life with the small amount of HoPe that he had. 

‘Sans the Skeleton. Attack 1, defense 1, 13/15 HP. Is trying not to panic.’ Flowey raised an eyebrow at the high HP level but put it aside. He was okay as far as HoPe went. “A-Are you okay?” He asked him. Sans nodded his head, still holding his hand over where the attack hit him. Flowey sighed in relief. It hadn't been the first time he had accidentally attacked someone when he was angry, but he hoped it would be the last. 

Sans removed his hand from his skull, revealing a small crack branching off from the larger one over his right eye. There was a little blood coming from it and Flowey let out a small gasp upon seeing it. He asked the skeleton if he was sure he was okay. “Y-yeah, it's f-fine,” he said, “I-I've had worse.” Flowey frowned a little. 

“Just listen f-for a minute,” Sans continued, “what I w-was trying to s-say was that A-Alphys injected you w-with determination, r-right?” The flower nodded, feeling no need to elaborate on the whole situation. “Well, t-that DT doesn’t exactly g-go away over time,” Sans told him. Flowey raised an eyebrow, slightly confused by what he was trying to tell him. 

Sans sighed, “It doesn't d-dissapear, I o-of all monsters would know t-that very well. That means s-someone has more DT than you.” A moment of clarity shone in the flower’s mind. He nodded in understanding but he came up with another question. “Wait, if someone has more determination that me, who is it?” Sans thought about it for a moment, Flowey could see him piecing together the answer in his mind. 

“U-unless Alphys found a way to inject monsters with DT and n-not melt them, I would guess it's the n-newest addition to the Underground. Frisk to be exact.” Flowey let out a small ‘ooohhhh’ and nodded in agreement. Sans stood up and stretched, “A-are you ready to go back?” 

Flowey almost started to say yes, but when the skeleton had mentioned something about him knowing about DT not diminishing over time that posed another question in his mind. “Wait a second, what did you say? About you knowing better than anyone else that DT doesn't just go away?” Sans eye sockets darkened and he turned his head away for a second. “... Can you p-please forget I said that?” 

Flowey looked at him for a moment, but let it drop. If he had worked with DT or had been injected with it, Flowey could understand that. Heck, he would hate to talk about it. “Yeah… We should head back,” the flower said. Sans enveloped both monsters in magic and teleported them back into the house. Flowey told him goodnight before appearing next to Frisk’s bed. 

Flowey looked at the child, who was dreaming. They had a soft smile on their face, one full of hope and happiness. Flowey found himself smiling with them. He them made a vow to himself, that if this child were the one to have the ability to recreate the world that he would teach them to value it. He would teach them not to misuse it and only to use it when they really had to. The flower then sighed and settled in for the night. 

Back in the skeleton brothers’ room, Sans crawled into his makeshift bed. He tried to be quiet so that he wouldn't wake up his brother, but it seemed that he was already awake. “Did you have a nice walk?” He asked his older brother quietly. Sans nodded, “y-yeah, I did…” He trailed off for a moment, unsure whether he wanted to say anything about what had happened to Papyrus. 

“Flowey c-came and talked with me for a-a while,” he mentioned. Papyrus sat up in his bed, concerned that the flower had bad intentions. “I-it wasn't anything really… H-he just wanted t-to know how we got here… He's n-not that b-bad actually,” Sans added on, sensing his brother’s discomfort. Papyrus relaxed again, laying back down. 

“That's good to know,” Papyrus told the other skeleton, “goodnight, brother.” Sans snuggled deeper into the warm blankets. He made sure they completely surrounded him and he smiled softly at his brothers words. “Goodnight, P-Paps.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, just for whoever is reading this (*waves to whoever is reading this) I wanted to tell a little about the next parts. I wanted to have 5-10 shorter chapters before the real actual action starts (It's going to get very chaotic very quickly). I figured I would do some filler chapters, but that is really hard for me to do... especially since I've used most of my ideas for filler in AKATD... I still have some, but still.   
> I decided that I would answer some questions that no one asked in the next chapter... that changed into two chapters after it wasn't even half finished and had over 3500 words. I'm currently a little stuck on it, but I'll find my way past it.   
> It's basically some interesting filler chapters of like a dream/flashback thing... No one asked for it, but it's fun to write! 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed these chapters of my update spree! And thank you all so much for the support! Even though I haven't had much time to update, your support still gives me the initiative to keep writing! Bye!


	5. Answers No One Asked For pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dream flashback thingy because the author really can't think of filler...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh!! So sorry for the delay! I had to leave school, finish all the exams and then I went on vacation with the grandparents that wouldn't approve of fanfiction, so I didn't have much time to write! Although, these next two parts combined are just under 10,000 words... So that's a plus! Also, the next part is about halfway done in draft form. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy these next two parts! (I just felt better splitting it...)  
> Ima be quiet now!

Sans pressed his skull against the glass tank. “How long until they can come out?” He asked again for what felt like the millionth time. A sigh was heard from across the room where a tall skeleton sat at his desk. He was wearing a long lab coat over a gray turtleneck shirt and black pants. He wore glasses, and both his eye sockets had cracks running in opposite directions as if they feared him. He walked across the room and put a hand on the smaller skeleton’s shoulder. 

“I told you, it will only be about a week now. Maybe less,” the scientist told him. Sans sighed and sat down with his back against the glass. “Sorry… I didn't mean to bother you about it, I'm just really excited is all.” Gaster crossed the room again and started digging through his papers, telling the other that it was no problem and that he could understand. 

A brief thought crossed Sans’ mind, and he was suddenly struck with worry. “Hey… You’re not gonna experiment on him too, right?” Gaster spun around, dropping papers everywhere. His magic faltered for a moment, allowing his glasses to slip off his skull and onto the floor. “Sans, you know that I never meant any of that!” He said quickly, “I just never knew you were sentient, otherwise, I would have never done that, any of it!” 

Gaster looked genuinely distressed, but Sans still looked at him suspiciously. Just then he noticed all the papers on the floor and started to try and pick them up without his glasses, and he ended up making an even bigger mess. Sans walked over and started to help pick up the papers. He spotted Gaster’s glasses and picked them up, tapping his shoulder so that he would look up. Sans held the glasses up to Gaster’s skull and they went right back where they were thanks to Gaster’s magic. 

He nodded a thank you and they went back to picking up the papers. It wasn't long until they were back in a neat and orderly stack on his desk. Gaster sighed again and looked at Sans. “I am assuming that you want to hear the whole story… Right?” Sans nodded. “I'll tell you later tonight,” he said. Sans smiled at the prospect of gaining the knowledge of how and why he was created, although part of him was a little afraid of hearing something that he wouldn't like. 

“You can stay here with your brother… I have to go meet with King Asgore shortly,”. Gaster told the small skeleton. Sans looked at him and raised a nonexistent eyebrow. Gaster smiled at him softly, “I have confirmed that he is a male.” Sans smiled back and the scientist exited the room to go to his meeting. 

“Yes!” Sans said quietly. He had been hoping for a brother and finding out that this dream was actually coming true made him very happy. Things had been a whole lot better since Gaster had stopped his experiments, and finding out that this was going to go his way too just made it perfect. He gazed at the tiny skeleton in the glass container. He looked so small and peaceful, just floating there as his soul finished building up the magic it required to exist outside of its current habitat

Sans looked at it once more before pulling out some puzzles. He pulled out three boxes, one two thousand pieces, one three thousand, and one five thousand. They were new puzzles that Gaster had found at the dump recently. Since they were not in the best condition from having fallen down here from the surface, it was obvious that they would be damaged and have missing pieces. Sans had made it his personal mission to restore the puzzles as much as possible based on the remaining pieces and the pictures on the box. 

He had already done so with several other puzzles, fitting them together and figuring out what pieces were missing, them replicating the needed shapes and coloring them as he saw fit. The other pieces were restored afterward. He dumped out the two thousand piece on first, deciding to start small in case Gaster actually got out of the meeting early. Then he set to work putting it together.

…

Sans had finished the restoration of the first puzzle and was working on putting together the second one when a loud beeping knocked him out of his trance. He shot us and looked around, trying to see where it was coming from. He looked at the glass tube and his non-existent heart nearly stopped. There was a crack on the small monster’s soul and Sans could see that there were new ones starting to form there. 

The blaring sound got louder and was joined by the sound of another monitor going off. Sans was instantly struck with worry. He remembered Gaster telling him that if anything like this ever happened to get him immediately, but Gaster wasn't here. He was at a meeting with the king and Sans had no clue where that was. Heck, he hadn't even been out of the lab! Sans didn't know how to contact him either since there was no phone in the lab other than Gaster’s personal one, which would have been taken with him to the meeting anyway. 

Sans started to panic, making attempts to decode the meanings of the numbers and graphs on the monitors, searching through papers to figure out what he was supposed to do. He could feel his magic building up for no reason other than the panicked state he was in. His hands gripped his skull and he froze, hyperventilating so hard he could barely breathe. He looked up and saw the soul crack more, forcing him into an eve deeper state of panic. 

Sans’ magic then exploded, blue magic enveloping every loose item in the room. Papers and puzzle pieces swirled around him, and it took him a mommy to realize that the monitors had stopped beeping. They were now silent and motionless, and as he realized this everything else in the room froze too. He looked up at the small skeleton in the tube. His soul was still cracking, and Sans froze in horror as part of it chipped off. 

‘His soul… It won't survive. If I don't do something now, I'll lose my brother!’ Sans thought. ‘He’ll never get to meet me, or D- Gaster. He’ll never get to see the Underground with me, or the surface!’ Before he really realized what he was doing, he had pulled out his own soul. Sans then did something he probably wouldn't have done if he was actually thinking about it; He removed part of his own soul. 

Sans clenched his teeth together to keep from crying out. A few years slipped down from his eye sockets as he held the piece of his soul in his hand. He then drew the soul of his brother towards him and connected the piece of his own soul with his brother’s fractured one. Light shone brightly for a second, and Sans’ magic ceased to levitate anything it had been before. 

Everything collapsed to the ground, glass objects shattering, papers drifting gently to the ground, pens landing with soft clicks on the floor of the lab. Sans also fell to the ground, landing harshly against the tile. He felt blood run down the right side of his face from his eye socket and felt his vision flicker from that eye. He gave himself a moment to lay there before looking up towards the glass tube. 

Sans gasped when he saw it. It was demolished, glass shattered with whatever liquid that had been in it before across the floor. He made an attempt to stand and managed to get himself upright on his feet. He was careful to note where the shards of glass were as not to step on the later. Before he could move, he heard the sound of quiet, weak crying. Sans’ eye sockets widened and he tried to find where it was coming from. 

The skeleton made his way around the room, being careful not to stop on any glass or even papers if he could help it. It wasn't long before he found the source of the crying, and Sans smiled. His brother was out of the now shattered tube, and other than the goop he was covered in he looked unharmed. Sans reached down to pick up his brother and gently held him in his arms. 

The tiny skeleton opened his eyes and looked up at him. Sans made a mental note that one of his eyes, his right, was red while the other was white and seemed to slowly be changing over to red. Looking upon the face of his holder, the small child stopped crying. Sans’ grin widened and he teared up a bit. He was every bit as happy as he had dreamed he would be, minus the chaos beforehand of course. 

“H-hey,” Sans said uncertainly. “I'm Sans, your big brother. I don't know when Gaster will be back,” he said, glancing uncertainly toward the door, “but I promise that I will do anything to protect and take care of you. The tiny skeleton reached up at Sans’ face. Sans smiled again, “let's start by getting you cleaned up.” Glancing at a map on the wall, Sans figured out where the laundry room was and started towards it. 

Once inside, he grabbed a towel and started to get the goop off of his tiny brother. The towel looked so big compared to him and he giggled a little at the thought of wrapping him in a giant towel. However, he ignored this and stayed focused on cleaning him up. Sans knew that his little brother was fragile and the last thing he wanted to do was damage him. Said skeleton tried to grab the towel and Sans smiled again. ‘This must be the best day of my life,’ he thought, having completely forgotten about what had just happened right before now. 

…

After his meeting with King Asgore, Gaster was not feeling the greatest. He knew that his time in the lab would be ended if he didn't step up his game and start remaking the weapons designed to destroy the barrier. He was nervous that someone would come down there and take away Sans and his ‘unborn’ brother, or even worse kill them. 

Shaking off those horrifying thoughts, Gaster pulled out his keycard and put it in the slot. The first door opened and he was let into the upper levels of the lab. He walked into a space labeled ‘broom closet’ and closed the door behind him. There were quite a few brooms and janitorial supplies in there, and it even went back several feet to ensure the secrecy of the hidden door. 

Gaster moved one broom the other way, making the handle have the wall. A hand scanner appeared along the back wall and he pressed his hand into it. It was truly clever to put one here as a line of defense since literally, no one else in the Underground had holes in their hands. Even if they managed to get Gaster’s DNA, the shape could never be perfectly matched other than with his hand. 

The wall slid open, revealing an elevator. Gaster stepped in and went through a different key card swipe to get it to move. The elevator dropped with surprising speed before reopening its doors, this time in the True Lab. As one last defense, right by the door was another sensor. This one analyzed the magic in anything and could read one monsters magic from another. He had designed it himself and was very proud of it. 

Summoning a quick bone attack for the sensor to analyze, Gaster stepped through the door as it opened. He dropped the file of papers on the barrier destruction weapons and they spilled out onto the already chaotic floor. Gaster's jaw dropped as he looked around the room, trying to assess the damage. There were countless papers strewn across the floor, joined by puzzle pieces, glass, pens, and goop. That was what really got Gaster's attention. 

“Holy shit,” he muttered, unable to make himself move. The chaos and disorder of the lab was astounding. Who could have done that? Surely it couldn't have been an intruder, he has impenetrable defenses on four different levels just to get down here. It would be literally impossible to break in, at least with Gaster here where he was now and not being forced to let some captor in his top secret lab. 

He tried to shake off the notion, but Gaster could see no way that anyone in the lab could have done this. “Sans?” Gaster called out into the lab, starting to make his way across the vast room. “Sans? Are you here?” He called again, still receiving no response. His shoe made contact with a large piece of glass, and he pulled his foot up before it could cut through the shoe anymore. Gaster then looked down not too far from where he was standing now and he saw blood, making his non-existent heart drop. 

“SANS?!” Gaster screamed, beginning to feel extremely panicked. Even if Sans had somehow accomplished this much damage to the lab he was still hurt. Gaster was always paranoid about Sans’ HP, even though it was at 25 when he was first checked and had increased but blood usually meant that a skeleton was very badly damaged. He tried to keep himself calm despite this, it wasn't like he had one HP all of a sudden, right?

Gaster cleared the room and looked off into the hall, seeing the dozens of branching rooms. It would take forever to find him here no matter how long he searched. “Sans!?” He shouted again. He froze for a moment, waiting for a response. To his surprise, he got one this time. “Gaster?” He heard it echo from down the second hallway to the left. Gaster ran down the hall, looking into rooms as he went, trying to make sure there wasn't anyone in there. 

Gaster finally found him standing in the laundry room. “Oh, thank goodness,” he said, running over to Sans and giving him a hug. Sans froze for a moment before returning the embrace. The scientist withdrew but kept his hands on Sans’ shoulders. He quickly looked him up and down, taking notice of everything. The thing that stood out the most to him right now was his right eye socket. There was blood still trickling from it and the pupil was an irregular color, a dim gray instead of a vibrant red. It also seemed to be flickering, making Gaster extremely concerned. 

“What happened to you?” He asked, voice filled with concern. Sans shrugged, “I don't know, m-my eye socket just started bleeding after…” He trailed off. Gaster’s face practically begged him to continue. Sans opened his mouth to say something, but both of them turned to look when something made a small, unintelligible sound. Gaster’s jaw dropped as he stared at the tiny skeleton sitting on the counter. 

It didn't make any sense to him in the slightest. How and why was he out now, not to mention how he was managing not to dust. His body shouldn't have been stable enough to hold itself together for at least three or more days, hence the week or so Gaster was telling Sans that he'd have to wait to meet him. The scientist could also see that his left pupil was bright red while the other was seeming to be going from white to the same red as the other eye light. 

“How did this happen?” Gaster asked cautiously, worried that Sans had forcibly taken him out. Sans looked down at his feet and shuffled them nervously, worried that he would make Gaster mad. “Well… Something went wrong and the monitor started beeping. I don't know what it was, but his little soul started to… Started to break apart…” Gaster’s eyes widened. “I panicked a little… Which might be why the lab is trashed… And I think I…” Sans’ actions finally sunk in. 

“I think I gave him part of my soul,” he finished. Gaster’s mind was suddenly flooded with different emotions, anger at his lab being wrecked, fear of the thought of Sans having possibly accidentally damaged himself, happiness of both of them being alive. He just stared blankly for a moment, not really registering anything that went on around him. 

His magic stopped for a moment with his thoughts, letting his glasses slip off his skull again. Sans bent down and picked them up. He could tell that Gaster was pretty zoned out right now and knew it would take him a minute to rejoin them. This happened every once in awhile and he knew the only thing that he could do was to let it pass. 

The scientist snapped out of his trance and shook his head quickly. He blinked a few times and Sans gingerly put his glasses back on. They fixed themselves on his face again and he blinked again, readjusting his vision. “T-thank you, Sans, I, uh, zoned out again didn't I?” Sans nodded. Gaster looked at him and looked at the tiny skeleton on the counter. He sighed, knowing the full story would be best told in a video that he could watch later. The fallout from this could wait, Gaster knew that they were all tired and sleep was what everyone needed. 

He smiled, “how about we get you and your brother to bed?” Sans glanced at his brother and nodded. “Although,” Gaster started, “we probably should get you cleaned up at least.” Sans put a hand under his right eye socket and when he drew it back it had blood on the bone. “That sounds like a good idea,” he told him. Gaster grabbed a clean cloth and started to wipe away at the blood, not caring in the slightest that it would stain the cloth more than likely. 

It only took a few minutes for the scientist to clean Sans’ socket and wrap it up in bandages. The small skeleton on the counter had not caused any trouble while he did it, just sitting there and playing with a loose string on a towel. Gaster picked him up and held Sans’ hand, taking them to their rooms. They were side by side but still separate places. There was a door between them and Gaster decided to leave it unlocked just in case. 

He gently sat down the small skeleton, making a mental note to ask Sans what name he would like for his brother. Gaster turned on the small night light and closed the big door. Sans had gone ahead and tucked himself in but instead of turning off the light and closing the door, he pulled up a chair next to Sans’ bed. He raised a non-existent eyebrow at Gaster. “Well, you do want to know why I used to experiment on you, right?” Sans seemed to consider it for a moment before nodding. 

“It all started when-”


	6. Answers No One Asked For pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster tells the story of how and why Sans and Papyrus came to be. Then some other stuff happens.

*~*~*~*  
Asgore had assigned him to work on figuring out how to destroy the barrier without the use of seven human souls, which they didn't have access to anyway. Gaster sighed as he trudged into his lab once again. He hated having to stay late, especially when his wife was sick, but with how cold and detached the king had become after the loss of his family Gaster doubted that leaving early and disobeying orders was an option that would keep him unharmed. 

So far he had what he thought was a big piece of the puzzle, human determination. It came in seven different types, each presenting a different trait, and based on the research he had conducted already it told him that DT was what made humans so powerful. Powerful souls with bodies that don't rely on magic from the soul; it was the perfect combination. 

He had tried to administer it to a test subject, but upon receiving not even one one-hundredth of the amount of DT in a normal human soul the subject melted and then dusted. Gaster did not try that again. He figured that a tolerance could be built up to it, but only the smallest doses over long periods of time. Starting before a soul was completely ready to sustain its own magical body would be optimal, but that was probably never going to happen. He supposed that he could create something in order to try it, but that would call for desperate measures. Also, what if they were a real monster? One who could feel and understand as they could, what could he do then? Could he bring himself to do it? 

Shaking off his thoughts, he went back to reading the charts and graphs on the DT that always resided in monsters souls, just enough to help them keep going and not to lose hope, but not enough to bring themselves back from the dead or create huge, almost permanent magical barriers to trap the humans in. It was kinda silly now that he thought about it, monsters having weaker physical forms with strong magic and humans having very strong physical forms with strong, untapped and unneeded magic stored up in there. The little bit of determination supported a monsters magic, and all the DT in a humans system was left to sit there and be unused unless the human is near death. 

Gaster's phone rang and buzzed in his pocket, making him jump and fall out of his chair. He sat up and snatched his phone. He looked at the number and his non-existent heart sank. It was the medical doctor he had sent to watch over his wife and try to help her out while he was gone. With shaky hands, he pressed a button and held the phone up to where his ear would be. “H-hello?” He asked, voice shaking as he feared the worst. 

“Hello, Gaster,” his friend called from the other side. “I, uh, have some… Bad news…” Gaster didn't reply, trying to hold himself together. “She's… Fallen Down…” He said quietly. The phone almost slipped from his hand. “. . .” He was silent for a moment. Gaster almost broke again, but he managed to hold himself together. “I'll b-be right over,” he said, ending the call. The last that was seen of Gaster for the next few days was by his co-workers watching him dash out of the lab without a word. 

*.*.*.*

Gaster walked into the lab without a word the day after he returned. He was pretty unresponsive around his co-workers, only speaking when asked for his opinion on something. After the lab had cleared of many of the more insignificant workers, Gaster tried to enter his own lab but was stopped by his friend. It was the doctor who had been helping him out with his wife and he had returned to the lab after she had died and he was no longer needed there, leaving Gaster alone to give him time to grieve. 

Alex was a kind monster, almost as tall as the skeleton. He was a gray and green monster, with the body type of a lizard or dinosaur. He almost always had his medical bag with him, just in case. Alex was always the type of monster that loved to help others but with the changes occurring in the Underground recently, it either seemed he would be needed more than ever or dusted in an instant. 

Gaster had known him since they were little on the surface. They had shared interests in science but since Alex loved to help out anyone that needed it he moved into the medical field. Gaster stuck with the classic science and they both moved quickly through their ranks, helping each other when they could. Another reason they were close was that Gaster was very strong and could beat most other monsters in a fight if he had to. When they were younger, Alex had been made fun of for being gay, but Gaster always stood up for him and made sure he was okay. Alex never felt judged around him which is one of the reasons they became such great friends. 

"G," he said, "Asgore came by the lab the other day... he was pretty angry that you weren't here..." Gaster sighed and slid his key card through the slot. Both of them stepped through the door leading to the elevator. "I have a bad feeling he's changing for the worse. I offered to look him over but he wouldn't let me do it." 

The skeleton remained silent, increasing Alex's worry. He tried to think of something to say to get any kind of response from him. He came up short, leaving the two friends in a deep awkward silence as they entered the True Lab. It wasn't really the True Lab yet, especially since most everyone knew it and had access to it. Alex twiddled his thumbs together as the scientist moved around the lab, gathering papers and examining probabilities he had set up a few days before. 

A brief thought crossed his mind. Alex opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He didn't know if he wanted to say anything to him about that yet for fear of something going wrong and ending right back up in this same situation with Gaster feeling more hopeless than ever. “Listen,” he said, tone turning serious in an instant. “Gaster, you need to pull yourself together. You could lose your position if you’re not careful!” 

Gaster froze, eye lights blinking out. He held his papers tightly to his chest like they were some sort of lifeline keeping him connected to reality. Just then, someone threw open the doors to the lab. Alex jumped back with a small squeak, Gaster only looked up to see who it was. Alex shrunk back a little, King Asgore stood tall in front of him. Just like he had worried, the skeleton’s friend assumed that he was going to be taken down from his position, if not worse… Part of him didn't want to believe it, but with how he had been acting lately Alex wouldn't be one to put him past killing the Royal Scientist. 

“W. D. Gaster,” The King growled angrily, “I cannot describe how much you have angered me, disappearing for days without a word.” Gaster didn't say anything, he just kept half looking at the angry King. Asgore scowled at the skeleton, “I have no patience for this! Time is short enough already,” he shouted, “and I need this barrier down NOW!” Asgore slammed his trident onto the tiles, cracking them beyond repair. Alex slid out of the way, in fear he might actually dust Gaster. He really didn't want that to happen but he also really didn't want to die with him, not like this anyway. 

Something deep down inside of Gaster snapped, making him lose control. He muttered something quietly. Asgore’s frown deepened, “Speak up when addressing your king.” Gaster’s skull snapped up to stare him directly in the face, his eye lights blazing different colors. “You will get them,” he took a breath, “When. YOU. G E T T H E M!” 

Alex froze in horror as his friend screamed at the king of all monsters. “If you want some fucking results, you are going to wait until I can get some fucking results! I can only work if you leave me be, so get out before I make you!” Gaster panted for a moment, still staring Asgore straight in the face. The king kept his wits about him, not letting any emotion show. It would be hard to tell if that had bothered him or not, but it could be assumed he was very angry. 

“Fine,” he said, turning to exit the lab. “Do not stop at anything to break the Barrier.” With that, the door slammed closed. All was silent for a moment, no one shifting in the slightest to break the silence. Suddenly, Gaster threw his papers up in the air and suppressed a scream. His anger and his grief were boiling up to the surface, one fueling another in an endless cycle. He had never been this unstable, and with all the stress that Asgore held with the problem of the barrier looming over him, it took most of his willpower not to scream. 

Alex watched his friend silently rage for a moment. He was a little shocked that he had yelled at the King, heck, he was surprised he yelled at all. As soon as he froze in the center of the room, breathing heavily from anger and surprising said anger, Alex chose to act. “Hey… G, are you okay?” Gaster didn't say anything for a moment, folding his arms around himself. “Doesn't matter,” he said solemnly, a blank look in his eyes, “I have a barrier to break.”

*.*.*.*

The next few weeks were spent designing a weapon that could be attached to a monsters magic so they could wield it, run on determination to obliterate the barrier, and be a very strong attack just in case Asgore still was set on slaughtering the human race when he reached the surface. He called it a ‘gaster blaster’, only adding his name there since he himself would be the first experiment. 

The weapon was already created and fully ready, it only needed to be matched with a monster’s magic now. Gaster drew in a deep breath and summoned some of his magic to bind himself to the attack. For a moment, Gaster could feel the connection come to life. It flickered and died just as soon as it had come. He tried again, receiving the same response. 

It took him a few days to figure out that the monster using the blaster would also require determination, one matching the kind that powered that specific blaster too. He grabbed some pure DT and set out to find a proper test subject. The search turned up empty, no luck whatsoever. Now that the skeleton thought about it, he could probably still be the subject, or al least another skeleton. However, as far as he knew all of the other skeletons were basically extinct, his wife and he being one of the last hopes for the continuation. They had decided not to have children with what the Underground was becoming, fearing the worst. They wanted to wait it out, but now only Gaster was left. 

It did make sense though, skeletons had less matter and more magic to counteract the DT, less matter to melt in the first place actually. Gaster knew that with the current limitations he would dust himself in an instant if he tried anything on himself but perhaps there was another way… He pulled up Alex’s number and called him. “H-hello?” He asked from the other side. Gaster sighed, “what did you say earlier about your team’s research in cloning?” 

*.*.*.*

The next thing Gaster knew he had created another skeleton with his own DNA, a small amount of his wife’s dust, a small part of a soul fragment that could grow a new one, and several different types of determination. He was quite proud of the accomplishment, especially since his friends’ team now knew how to create monsters now. The skeleton was very small so far, but it was interesting to watch them grow over the weeks, Gaster thought so at least. 

When he was finally taken from the suspension tube Gaster was very pleased to find that they didn't up immediately dust. They were actually able to stand not too long after, and they seemed to be searching for a way out from inside their enclosure. Gaster noted this and put it away for another time. The new skeleton’s font was Comic Sans, so, for now, he was referred to as 1-S. 

It didn't take very long for the scientist to come to the conclusion that 1-S was not sentient, for he didn't ever speak or really make any movements. He also seemed to not understand much. Gaster made a mental note of this, although it probably wouldn't change anything. Special vials were used to advance the child in aging, in body and mind, so the experiments could begin. 

The blasters connected very easily, but 1-S couldn't or didn't know how to summon them. Gaster grew very frustrated, occasionally testing out new types of things invented in the lab on 1-S. Gaster, in his blind state, couldn't see the harm in it, as long as it wasn't sentient what was wrong with it? He even started creating a second one, making sure to improve the conditions to hopefully make the next sentient. 

Little did he know, behind his back every chance he got 1-S would practice speech and try to find a way to escape. What the scientist did to him really did hurt and scare him, he was just afraid that if he said anything it would become worse. One thing he figured out it was a good thing to do was to have a poker face. 

It was one day when Gaster was going to a whole new level of experimentation, one where his plan was to see how/why some skeletons bleed and whether or not this new one does, 1-S finally decided to speak up. It was when the blade hit his arm that he let out a small scream, effectively scaring the scientist. Gaster didn't know he could make noise at all. 

Blood trickled from the small wound and he sat up and gripped his right arm in pain, wincing when his hand made contact with the injury. Gaster dropped what he was holding in disbelief. “Agh, w-why did you d-do this?” He said shakily, using words he knew he understood. Gaster’s jaw dropped. “H-have you been sentient this entire time?” He asked softly, mostly to himself. 1-S didn't really know what that meant, but he nodded anyway. 

Whatever trance Gaster had been in broke with that. Everything he had done came crashing down on him, making him freeze up. His glasses almost slipped off his face, but he caught them before they fell. Within a split second so many thoughts flew through his head, some asking how he could have done this, some asking how he could have missed this the whole time, but one voice of reason came out and told him that he couldn't change the past and that he could only make up for it now. 

Gaster swore under his breath, moving over to 1-S. He pulled away at first, not wanting to be hurt any more than he already was. Gaster took a step back and spoke. “Listen, I never meant for this to happen… Please let me help you.” Based on his limited vocabulary most of that didn't make sense to the small skeleton, but the words he did understand he liked the sound of. He thought some help would be nice. 

He held out his arm, allowing the scientist to get a good look at the injury before beginning to heal it. Gaster didn't have the best healing magic at all, so it didn't help very much or miraculously fix his arm all of a sudden. Gaster also didn't have the vastest knowledge on how to dress wounds either. He sighed and called up Alex again. It rang twice until his friend picked it up. “Hey, Al…” He said, feeling bad now that he looked back on how he had treated his friend recently, ignoring him for work or hardly talking to him at all. 

“I'm sorry, buddy,” he said. Alex was silent for a moment. “You okay?” He asked the skeleton nervously, hoping that he had been broken from whatever trance he had been in. “Yeah… But you need to come here real quick,” he said. It was silent for a second. “Please?” Gaster added, hoping he wasn't too busy. Alex paused for a moment before replying, “Alright.” 

A few minutes later, Gaster met him at the entrance to his private lab. He saw that he had brought his medical bag despite him not saying anything, but pushed his thoughts aside and gave him a hug, muttering sorry a few times over. Alex smiled and hugged his friend back, knowing he was better now. Gaster withdrew and started to walk down the hall, gesturing for Alex to follow. “You remember 1-S right? The experimental clone?” Alex nodded, remembering having part of the project that led to his creation. “He's… Sentient,” Gaster said, walking a little faster. 

Alex’s jaw dropped for a second, not wanting to think that he and his team had been responsible for assisting in the creation of a sentient monster that was also experimented on, some of it because of their findings and hypotheses. He picked up his pace when he noticed Gaster making some distance between them. The distraught scientist turned into a room and stood next to the open door. Before stepping in, Alex allowed himself a moment to close his eyes and take a deep breath. 

He rounded the corner and looked into the room. Sure enough, the small skeleton was sitting on examination table, clutching at his arm. Alex could have sworn he saw some fear in his eye lights for just a second, but when he blinked it was gone, replaced by a neutral look. “W-who’s that?” 1-S asked his creator. Gaster put an arm around his friend’s shoulder. 

“This is my friend, Alex. He is going to make you feel better now,” he told the child, trying to use words he would most likely understand. 1-S nodded, grasping the concept that this ‘Alex’ wouldn't hurt him. Said monster moved forward and placed his medical kit on the table, opening it and pulling out some things he guessed he'd need since he hadn't checked the injury yet. 

Once some of the materials were within reach, Alex turned to the small skeleton. Now that he looked he could really see the intelligence in his eyes, or maybe he could only see it because 1-S was letting it show. Either way, Alex was glad he hadn't really ever been around him, as not to associate him negatively since he was trying to help him now. That would have made this a lot more complicated. 

“Hey,” Alex said softly, not wanting to scare or intimidate the small monster, “May I please see your arm?” He moved his arm away from his chest, showing it to the doctor. Gaster watched the interaction carefully, unsure whether his previous experiment would become hostile if any pain came from his friend. Alex carefully examined it, noting that one section looked like the tool had been jerked once or twice before it was taken out, probably from where Gaster jumped upon hearing him make any sound. Other than that, it didn't look too bad. 

Alex healed it some with his magic, which was much stronger that Gaster’s healing magic due to its frequent use. It was reduced to a small cut by the time he was done. While he bandaged up his arm, Alex made sure Gaster could see, just in case need be some day for some reason. He figured it wouldn't hurt to know anyway, especially since the world seemed to be heading down a dark path. 

Alex left to go sit in the main office while Gaster put the child to bed to get some rest and relax. Gaster gently took the hand of the smaller skeleton, trying desperately not to seem intimidating. Instead of the cell he normally slept in, the scientist took him to a different room, one with an actual bed in it too. Gaster has occasionally used it for sleeping on the job when he refused to go home, but he figured it would be best to let 1-S use it now. 

Now that he thought about it, he would have to name him now, he guessed. He would probably go for the traditional ‘naming a skeleton after their font’ thing that had been around for as long as anyone could remember. He himself had been named like that, his wife too. Gaster guessed that she might have wanted that if they had ever had a child of their own. The newly named Sans did have his DNA and her dust though, so Gaster guessed he could be considered a father now that he considered it. 

He tucked the small skeleton into bed and turned out the lights. Gaster had a long talk with Alex about what he was going to do now. He settled on ‘try and be a ‘dad’ and wait’. There was a second skeleton, Sans’ sibling currently undergoing creation. It would be awhile before they would join them, but that was probably for the best. Now they could only try to make life good for Sans, and try to find a way to keep it secret. It would be tough, but they would find a way to keep Asgore off their back. 

Afterward, Sans was taught well by his newfound father, learning and mastering speech and writing very quickly. He was also skilled in math, occasionally helping Gaster out with simple equations. Gaster was impressed by it, and he always made sure to take care of his child from that day forward. 

*~*~*~*

The next morning, Gaster got up both the boys for an early breakfast, knowing that the youngest would probably need more rest and knowing that Sans still needed to be examined from whatever happened yesterday. Breakfast would also give the scientist ample time to watch the security video and see what really happened yesterday. 

It took almost no time to teach Sans how to feed his younger brother. The thought made Gaster smile. Becoming a big brother seemed… So natural to him, like he was born knowing how to do it. Gaster also noticed that he seemed to be so happy too. It was a good thing to have these days, or at least Gaster thought so. A great bond with a family member that can always be there to help you and watch your back if need be. 

After making sure they would be okay for breakfast, the scientist made his way to the computer room. He sat down at the main desk and typed in the passcode, making quick work of putting in all the correct codes to allow him to access the footage from the previous day. He set it rolling when a small light could be seen flashing from one of the monitors. Gaster watched as the past version of his son panicked and tried to find a way to fix whatever had gone wrong. 

The blast of magic, enveloping most of the room at the time, came as a shock to him as he was not aware that Sans had the capability to do that. Gaster had noted before that he had potential in magic, but he hadn't worked on manifesting that at all with him. He assumed that he wouldn't have been able to train with it on his own, so he chalked it up to panic induced magic. He made a mental note to train with Sans later. 

Gaster leaned towards the screen as he saw Sans draw out his own soul and remove part of it so that it mirrored his brother’s. Of course, that didn't last long since he promptly took the soul piece and replaced the missing part in his brother’s soul with his own. A blast of light overtook the room and blurred the camera lens for a minute. Only when it fully cleared could Gaster see the damage done to the room. 

After another minute of the footage, watching the two brothers meet for the first time, did he turn off the computer and take a step back. He knew that removing that piece of the soul had negative effects on the monster’s physical form, especially of that monster was a skeleton. Based off what he saw of the damage yesterday, Gaster could guess that the right eye had been affected gravely. Who knows what it did to his magic. Not to mention the small amount determination that the youngest now held could be dangerous to him if it went unchecked. Although, it may have been the reason he survived… 

Gaster stood and walked out of the room to go meet up with his children. Just as he turned the corner into the lab’s small kitchen his phone buzzed. He sighed in minor frustration and picked it up, realizing that it was Alex again. “Hey, Al,” he said. “Do you need something?” Alex told his friend that he didn't need anything, but that Gaster had made a scheduled appointment for Sans and he needed to be let into the lab. 

“Right, I almost forgot about that,” Gaster said, actually lying as it had completely slipped his mind. “It’s probably good that you come now anyway. There was a little… Incident last night, and now you have two skeletons to examine.” Alex sighed on the other end. “How did you get hurt this time?” He asked flatly, silently recounting all the times Gaster had done something stupid and broke a glass or dropped something heavy on himself. 

Gaster chuckled, “nothing at all. You’ll see soon enough.” Gaster hung up and disarmed the parts of the security system that Alex couldn't do himself, like the hand scanner and the magic detector. Sans looked up at Gaster while holding his brother in his arms. “Was that Alex?” He asked. Gaster nodded, walking over and sitting in the chair next to Sans. 

“You know,” he said, “your brother could really use a name.” Sans nodded in agreement. “I think you should be the one to decide, especially since you were so brave yesterday in sacrificing part of your own soul for him.” Sans looked at the small baby bones in his arms. “Really?” He asked his father. Gaster nodded happily. 

Sans looked at him for a moment before asking, “D- Gaster, how can you tell his font?” Gaster smiled softly, part of him very happy Sans wanted to name him this way. “You just need to check him and see what it is. If you can't tell I can help you,” Gaster said reassuringly. Sans checked his younger brother, noting the odd flavor text. “I… I think it's ‘Papyrus’,” Sans said, sounding slightly unsure. 

The scientist nodded. “Papyrus. It’s perfect!” Sans exclaimed, smiling widely. Gaster grinned too, “Hello, Papyrus. It's nice to meet you,” Gaster said with a smile. Just then, the main door slid open, the sound reaching the kitchen. Gaster stood to go and meet his friend while Sans waited with Papyrus in the kitchen. 

Alex stood in outside the elevator, holding his medical bag nervously, staring in disbelief at the destroyed lab around him. Gaster came in the front and greeted him. Before he could lead his friend to the small kitchen, Alex grabbed his arm, making the skeleton turn around so he could look him over. He just wanted to make sure that he wasn't lying when he said that it wasn't himself he had hurt this time. The last thing Alex wanted was another wound going untreated and turning into an infection… Again… Alex rolled his eyes at the thought, Gaster really could be stubborn sometimes. 

As they walked into the kitchen, the doctor was met with a familiar sight of Sans, but he did look a little different then he remembered. There seemed to be something wrong with his right eye socket. He also seemed to be holding something… Or someone, it turned it out. As he got closer, he could see a tiny skeleton wrapped up in his arms. Alex grinned. 

“Alex, you remember Sans,” Gaster gestured to his oldest son. Alex smiled at him. Gaster reached down for the bundle in Sans’ arms, gently picking up the youngest skeleton, and walked over to his friend. “This is Papyrus, Sans’ brother.” Alex’s smile widened as he looked at the tiny skeleton. He refrained from saying anything about him being cute though. 

“Sans,” Gaster called, making him look back over from his meal, “I think you should be checked out first. You had a rough time yesterday.” Sans nodded and got down from his chair. Sans started to walk down a hallway, and Gaster gestured for Alex to follow. While he checked out Sans, Gaster needed some coffee. 

Sans led him into a small examination room so they would have a little more space to have him checked out. He sat down on the table in the center of the room while Alex opened his bag and made sure all his equipment was in order. “Alright Sans,” he said, “Your father told me that… er, something happened yesterday and you got hurt.” Alex spoke quietly as not to intimidate him, just in case. “Would you mind telling me what happened?” 

Sans glanced to the side, still slightly nervous about telling anyone what happened that led to the destruction of most of the main lab, worried he might be in trouble. Although, he guessed he would already have some sort of punishment, like cleaning the dishes for a month, or a week without books, if he was going to have one. Since wrecking the lab was in the past he couldn't do anything about it now, so he guessed he would get what he would get, whenever and whatever that may be. 

He sighed, “when dad went off to his meeting, I was alone. It was fine for a while, but then Papyrus’ soul started to crack…” Sans’ eye lights glanced downward for a moment. “I didn't know what to do, my magic went crazy and wrecked the lab, and next thing I knew I had given Papyrus part of my soul…” 

Alex’s eyes widened. His jaw dropped for a moment before he closed it and pulled out a screen from his medical bag. Gaster had designed it so that it could read a monster's stats, show their soul without removing it, and reveal their current magic levels. He held it over the small skeleton and watched as symbols and numbers began to appear on the screen. 

‘Sans Aster. Attack 1, Defense 1, 15/15 HoPe. Hopes he didn't do something bad.’ Alex’s eyes caught on his HP. It had halved itself with no warning! He glanced at his magic levels, something he had never bothered to look at specifically. ‘Magic levels: 1967/1967.’ His jaw dropped again, that was a crazy amount of magic for anyone to have, and his physical age could only be four at the most! That level was even after his soul took the amount required to support itself and his body, which was normally why children were weak. Their bodies and souls took up most of their magic after they finished growing their magic could be stored and used for battle or work if need be. 

With that much magic unchecked, Alex could see why the main lab was a wreck. Below all the text, the image of his soul flickered into life. It was a red heart, and it looked like Sans had said; with a chunk torn off of it. It seemed to be slowly regrowing, not in its dominate determination red, but with the research Gaster had conducted, with that part of the soul missing there could be a lot of damage to Sans’ physical form.

Alex had already seen his halved HP, and he guessed that whatever he had seen with the eye socket earlier was a side effect too. He put the screen down and grabbed a magnifying glass. He looked into Sans’ right eye socket, observing the dim, flickering gray eye light that resided in it. Alex guessed there was some damage done to it, how much he didn't know. 

He pulled out two eye charts and stood them on the counter against the wall across from the table. “Sans, could you close your right eye and read off as much of the chart on the left as you can?” Sans nodded, covering his eye socket just to be sure, not that it made any difference when the socket was closed. He read aloud the letters perfectly. 

When Alex asked him to do it with the other eye and the other chart, things went south. Sans could see some of the larger letters, but sometimes his vision would flicker out in that socket. Alex sighed and put the charts away. Other than his HP, soul, and the eye socket he looked good to go. He gathered up his things and turned around to tell Sans the bad news. 

“Well, Sans, if I have to be honest I'll tell you that in removing part of your soul, you must have damaged some of your magical connections to your eye. You will probably be able to see out of it- limitedly- after a while. Just let it heal and it should be fine.” Alex didn't sugar coat anything, knowing the small skeleton could take it. If he could do simple equations for his father at his age, have been experimented on in the past, and just have been through this Alex figured he could take it. 

“Also it seems that you have halved your base HoPe,”. He added, not wanting to hide anything. Sans seemed at a loss for words, staring down at his hands in his lap. Alex allowed him a moment, before asking him to go retrieve Papyrus so he could look him over and make sure there was nothing wrong with him. He did almost die yesterday after all. 

After carefully handing his little brother off to Alex, Sans went back to the kitchen to tell Gaster what had been said. He sat back down in his chair, pulling his food back over to him. “So, what did he say?” Gaster asked. Sans looked over at him, trying to keep his right eye from doing anything crazy, and spoke. “He said that I probably messed up my eye, and my base HoPe…” He said, a little ashamed. 

Concern flared across Gaster’s expression. He quickly checked his son, seeing that his HP had been cut in half. “You must’ve damaged some magical connections…” He muttered, just loud enough for Sans to hear. Sans almost rolled his eyes, but refrained, “That's what Alex said, too.” 

Gaster glanced at the flavor text, telling him that Sans was a bit embarrassed, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Sans, no matter what you think, I want to tell you that what happened is not your fault.” Sans looked up at him, some tears welling up in his good eye. “You did what you had to, and you saved your brother’s life. I know you two will always be close because of that, no matter what happens.” 

Sans pulled him into a hug, crying into his father’s shoulder. Gaster hugged him tightly, vowing to himself to protect his kids no matter the cost. Alex came in with Papyrus, silently waiting for them to notice him. He really didn't want to break up this moment. 

Finally, Gaster let go, looked up and saw his friend. “How is he?” He asked, holding out his hands so he could hold Papyrus. Alex smiled. “He’s doing very well actually. Also, there is one thing I did take notice of.” Both skeletons looked nervous, so Alex continued. “When I looked at his soul, the part of Sans’ that was in it had some determination in it, and since that was the connection with his right eye, I am assuming that in the future he will have pretty strong magic. Also, since Sans has DT, some of it was passed off to Papyrus.” 

Sans seemed to be working through this in his mind and Gaster’s wheels were turning too. “So… Does that mean he’s okay? Since it was before he was out of suspension?” Alex shrugged, indicating that he didn't know. “Either that or he might even be compatible with DT in the future.” Gaster looked a little unnerved. 

“Anyway, that's all I saw that was abnormal,” Alex finished. Suddenly remembering something, his hand dove into his pocket and started fishing around in it. He pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Gaster with a smile. The scientist straightened it out some and read what it said. 

Gaster stood up with a wide smile and embraced his friend. When he let go he spoke, “Al, I had no idea you were getting married!” He exclaimed happily. Alex rubbed the back of his neck, “w-well, I popped the question a few days ago, and he actually said yes!” Sans watched, slightly confused, from the table. 

“I-I, uh, I want you to be my best man,” he added, making Gaster hug him again and tear up. “Also, Sans can be the ring bearer, if he wants, Papyrus too.” Sans didn't really know what that meant but smiled anyway. As Gaster walked his friend out, Alex told him about some of their future plans, like buying a house down the street from Gaster’s in the Capitol and adopting a little girl named Alphys that they had met. Soon after, they reached the elevator and said goodbye for the time being. 

Back in the kitchen, Sans picked up his little brother, holding him close. Papyrus smiled and tried to grasp Sans’ finger, making him smile too. He held his brother’s small hand, promise echoing through his mind. ‘I promise, I will do anything to protect anything and take care of you.’ He smiled wider and pulled Papyrus closer. He couldn't wait for whatever the future held for them, looking forward to when they could all, spend time together as a family, play games. Sans drew a deep breath and let it out. He couldn't wait to spend time with his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Yay almost 10,000 words of a random dream flashback filler thingy!)
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed that! It was pretty fun to write so that totally works as filler for me since it's not directly plot related. The next part is under way, I'm hopefully half way through it. It should be out soon too! 
> 
> Thanks to everyone for all the support! Thanks for reading and see you next time!


	7. walk, Talk, Spar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Author goes on vacation and then school begins for them, they have finally managed to finish multiple chapters all at once and will proceed to post them here.   
> We pick up right where we left off (sorta), in the Ruins. The skeleton brothers go to spar and Frisk convinces Toriel to let them go with them. Of course, something goes wrong and chaos ensues.   
> I hope you enjoy! ;3

Sans jerked up when he realized someone was shaking him. The human squeaked and jumped back, landing on the floor harshly. They smiled at him anyway. “O-oh, sorry k-kid,” he quickly said, not meaning to have scared them. They dismissed it with a wave of their hand. “Come on, Sans,” they exclaimed, “Toriel made waffles for breakfast!” With that, they ran out of the room to go get their food. 

Sans smiled and pulled himself up. He walked out of the doorway and down the hall. When he made it to the table, the kid was already eating, covering their waffles with syrup first. Papyrus and Flowey were also at the table with their plates. Toriel walked out of the kitchen with two more. “Good morning, Sans,” she smiled, setting his plate down next to his brother and her own in front of her chair. 

“Good morning everyone,” Sans said, climbing into the seat. Toriel sat down in her chair and picked up her silverware, beginning to cut her waffles apart. “I hope these are okay,” she said, “it has been awhile since I have used this recipe.” Frisk looked like they wanted to say something but their mouth was full and they didn't want to be rude. 

Papyrus set down his fork for a moment and looked at her. “I think they are very good,” he told her. Frisk swallowed and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Toriel! These are great!” They said excitedly. Toriel smiled, happy they liked the waffles. She poured syrup sparingly on her waffles and took a bite. Sans started to cut his apart, seeing Toriel smile and agree with both of them. 

Flowey was the only one who had been silent, eating his waffle without saying anything. He also had covered his food in the syrup, much like the human had done. He seemed to be having a little trouble holding the fork, having to use multiple vines to control it, but he didn't ask for help. The flower also hadn't cut his waffles, just taking a bite of the whole thing, making Sans assume that it was a little too difficult for him to operate both pieces of silverware at once. 

Frisk noticed Sans looking at Flowey while he ate, and noticed the flower’s uncut meal. They sighed and cut it for him, despite Flowey saying that he didn't need it cut, or that if he really wanted it cut he would have figured out how to do it himself. When they were finished cutting it apart, Flowey sighed. “Thank you,” he muttered, picking up his fork and taking another bite. Frisk smiled at him and continued to eat. 

There was almost no conversation at the table that morning, which was a little odd for the three long term inhabitants. Just as everyone was finishing up, Toriel broke the silence and asked what everyone’s plans were for the day. Papyrus stood up pushing his chair in, “I was planning on doing my rounds (Yesterday had just happened to be Sans’ last day on his week of the rounds.) and training myself before lunch.” Toriel nodded, gathering the plates. 

“Do allow me to cook dinner tonight,” she said, “I owe you from last night.” The tall skeleton agreed, and the schedule for today was set so that Toriel would end up making lunch and dinner today. Fortunately, she had no problem with this since she enjoyed cooking so much. “If y-you want me t-to, I-I’ll come down w-with you, Papyrus,” Sans said as he rose from his seat and handed Toriel his plate. He picked up the glasses and followed her into the kitchen so she wouldn't have to make a second trip. “We c-can spar if y-you'd like,” he offered, coming back into the living room. 

Papyrus seemed to think it over for a moment and decided to take his brother up on his offer. Frisk stood up from their seat excitedly as an idea struck them. “Can I come too, please?” They asked, smiling widely. Toriel, who stood in the kitchen doorway looking out on everyone else, grew stone faced. She still hated the idea of fighting, and while it was one thing for the skeleton brothers to go and practice due to one of them being the previous second in command of the Royal Guard and the other just being plain skilled, it was another for her new found child to go with them and learn to fight. 

She sucked in a breath and voiced her opinion. “My child, I do not wish that you participate in fighting, especially here. I believe that we are all safe here and if something were to happen we could all protect you…” Frisk thought over their next move carefully as she continued on. “It is just something I do not like very much…” Flowey nervously looked up at Frisk and whispered something to them. 

“What… What if I can just watch? It would probably be good for me to know how monster fights work anyway, just in case.” Toriel contemplated this for a moment; they did have a point. It probably would be a good idea for them to know how fights work. She reckoned that no harm would come to them as long as her roommates were there alongside them. 

The Ex-Queen sighed, “alright, my child. You may go.” Frisk smiled and asked Flowey if he wanted to come. He told them he would rather stay back, keeping his reason of ‘if some stray attack comes and kills me I won't be able to reset’ to himself. The two skeletons and the human started to walk out but Toriel remembered something just before they could leave. 

Toriel walked out of the room and into the back of the house to retrieve something. When she came out, she had three phones in her hands, one for each of them. “I found these while I was cleaning out the storage room the other day. I thought that we could use them to stay in close contact,” she explained. “I made sure they all work too. They might not be very nice, especially compared to what you had,” she said, referencing to the skeleton’s phones that they had had before this whole mess. 

Sans smiled at her, “Thanks, Tori. This w-will be great,” he said, taking one of the phones from her paws. Papyrus thanked her and took one of the remaining devices. Both he and Sans had to leave theirs behind when they went back to snowdin due to the tracking feature they both possessed. It had always bothered him a little, and having a new one was a nice thought. 

Toriel held out the last phone to Frisk, who only stared at it. “Do you not want it, my child?”’she asked, looking a little confused. They shook their head. “It… It's just that…” Frisk teared up a little, “I've never had one before… I don't even know how to use one since my parents never let me get near them…” 

Sadness flooded Toriel’s expression and she bent down and gave them a hug. “I am so sorry, Frisk,” she said, voice shaking some. She had known that the surface wasn't the best place either, with Chara jumping down here to end their own life, but she had hoped desperately that it had improved. At least no angry family would come and try to kill them all for ‘stealing’ their child. 

“Do not worry,” she reassured them, placing both paws gently on their shoulders. “We can all teach you, and you do not have to worry about anything like that ever again.” Frisk smiled and teared up again, embracing Toriel tightly. When they let go, she handed the phone to them. “Thanks…” They hesitated for a moment, “Mom.” Toriel smiled widely, telling them it was no trouble. 

The skeletons and Flowey watched from a distance at the display, each glad that Toriel knew how to handle this. Flowey was really glad that she could actually help to calm them down and make them feel loved. He had always had trouble with it and wasn't really sure how it would have turned out if he had been there instead of Toriel. Shortly after they all exchanged numbers and made contacts, teaching Frisk how to do so all the while, the trio left the house to venture out into the Ruins. 

Papyrus started down the path, walking past the piles of leaves that surrounded the door. Sans shot the kid a smile and followed after his brother. Frisk stood still for a moment, taking in the deeply red leaves, the purple brick walls, the big almost dead looking tree in the center of the path ahead of them. One thing, a little yellow star like object in the leaves to the right of them, stood out. It was almost like the skeletons hadn't noticed it, which either meant that it was normal or they couldn't see it. 

Bending down to investigate, they carefully reached out to it. When they touched it, a message appeared and Frisk let out a small gasp. *the thought of learning more about the underground fills you with determination. File saved.* Frisk raised an eyebrow. ‘File? What file? And what does it mean by save..?’ Just then Sans poked his head into the other doorway of the room, across from where Frisk was standing. “A-are you coming, k-kiddo?” He asked them, smiling. They nodded and started down the path after their new friends, only pausing to look back at the star for a moment before continuing on. 

Frisk followed the skeleton into the next small room and they saw Papyrus standing there patiently. He turned to the left and started walking. “Uhh… P-Papyrus, that's the wrong way to r-reach the puzzles you kn-know,” Sans told him. Papyrus stopped and nodded. “I do know that brother,” he replied, “I just wanted the human to see this.” He continued walking and had soon made it onto the next room. Frisk shrugged and ran after him, leaving Sans following after them with an imaginary eyebrow raised. 

Papyrus stood near the railing that was on the edge of the platform they were all standing on, looking out at something. Frisk walked up to the protective railing and looked out in that direction. Their jaw dropped a little as they saw great, tall buildings in the distance, looming over them. They all looked old and disused but it was a breathtaking sight for them nonetheless. 

The shorter skeleton entered shortly after, and upon reaching the railing he looked out and muttered a small ‘oh’. Papyrus smirked at them in a friendly way. “I-I was w-wondering where the old city w-was,” he said, gazing out at some of the crumbling rooftops. Papyrus chuckled some, “you seriously haven't been here before?” His brother shook his head. 

“I've n-never had a reason to g-go this way,” Sans said. They were all quiet for a moment, taking in the sights. “It's hard to believe that used to be the capital,” Papyrus muttered. “Sans, do you know why it was moved?” It was silent for another moment before Sans pulled away from the railing and spoke. “G-... Dad told m-me it had something t-to do with being ‘too cl-close to sp-spot where humans fell and too far-from the Barrier’,” he explained. 

Frisk kept staring for another second, “it's kind of a shame they had to leave all of those perfectly good buildings.” Both the skeletons turned to look at them as they gazed out at the structures, a little surprised by the comment. “It's a big waste,” they said matter of factly, “and now they will all just be left there to rot…” 

There was another moment of quiet, but this one had a little more awkwardness floating around in the atmosphere. It seemed no one had a follow-up comment or question, although both the skeletons were silently agreeing with them. They guessed they hadn't expected them to voice an opinion like that. Papyrus cleared his non-existent throat. “Are you ready to go now?” He asked the human and his brother, who both nodded a yes. 

Their walk was silent for a minute until Frisk’s phone began to ring. They hadn't expected it and jumped a little as it began to go off. They pulled it out of their pocket, seeing that it was Toriel calling and clicked the green button, hoping that it was the button she had said to push to pick up a call. Frisk held it up to their ear, “Hello?” 

“Hello, my child,” Toriel’s voice sounded from the other side. “I am glad you are able to use your phone,” she said, happiness lacing her tone. Frisk grinned, “Me too!” Toriel chuckled some on the other end. “I was calling you to ask if you preferred cinnamon or butterscotch.” They thought about it for a second. 

“I'd have to say butterscotch,” Frisk decoded. Toriel was silent for a second. “You would not turn up your nose if you found the other on your plate, would you?” She asked them. Frisk almost started to shake their head but remembered that she wouldn't be able to see their response just before they did it. “No, I actually really like both cinnamon and butterscotch,” they told her happily. 

Frisk glanced ahead of them to where the skeleton brothers were patiently waiting for them. “That is wonderful,” Toriel said happily. “Goodbye now, my child.” Frisk smiled, “bye… M-mom.” They ended the call. Putting the phone back in their pocket, Frisk ran up a small ways to catch up completely with the skeletons. Papyrus returned to walking, his brother and the human following close behind. Part of Frisk wondered what Toriel was planning and by the look on Sans face they thought that he had overheard enough to know what she was planning. Wondering what their first call was all about, they kept walking. 

The path to the end of the underground was passed through very quickly. All the traps and puzzles were disarmed still since Sans had undone them as part of his rounds. Since Frisk had fallen down and Sans had to teleport them both back to the house, no one thought of all the traps and puzzles that would remain nonfunctional until reset, and no one thought to reset them. Well, almost all the traps had been solved. When they came across the spike bridge, one which Sans always teleported past due to his forgetfulness of how to solve it, also reset itself right after it was stepped off. So this one was still active. 

Frisk looked a bit scared as they looked at the spike bridge, not wanting to set foot on it and get hurt. Sans was tempted to teleport across like normal but decided against it since he was with two other people. He saw the worried look on Frisk’s face and tried to reassure them. “D-don't worry kid, P-Papyrus knows the way across.” Papyrus turned around and raised a nonexistent eyebrow. “And you don't?” He asked his brother. 

“N-no,” Sans said, shaking his head. He looked a little guilty, shrinking in on himself some, “I n-normally sk-skip this one s-since it r-resets itself…” Papyrus rolled his eye lights. He stepped forward onto the first spiked sections of the bridge, the spikes sliding down into the floor when he stepped on them, leaving him completely unharmed. He held out a hand to Sans and the shorter skeleton flinched. 

Frisk could see sadness creep its way onto Papyrus’ skull. Why, they did not know, but regardless of that, it was still there. It took a moment before Sans cautiously looked up and saw that his brother was not angry with him. He slowly uncurled himself and took his brother’s outstretched hand. 

He turned around and looked at Frisk, who was trying to figure out what had just happened and why without any success. It was probably for the best that the skeleton’s past stays in the past and not worry the kid. So Sans used his open hand and turned their soul blue for just long enough to lift them on his shoulders. He smiled up at them and they smiled back. Soon after, Papyrus had led his brother across the spiked bridge while he had a human on his back. 

The rest of the Ruins was no trouble at all, just walking over a few bridges since the traps were basically disarmed. Frisk had gotten off of Sans’ shoulders and thanked him for the piggyback ride right as they all got to the stairs leading down into the final two rooms. It wasn't completely dark since there were some of the glowing particles seen at night in the rest of the Ruins scattered across the darkened halls, but it was still pretty ominous to Frisk. 

When they all reached the final room, Papyrus began testing his magic out and preparing himself to spar. Frisk found themself a nice spot to sit where a pillar had been damaged, making just the right indention for them to be able to sit comfortably against it. Sans stood on the opposite side of the room, doing absolutely nothing to prepare. 

“Is there a-anything you’d l-like to know before w-we start?” He asked them. They thought for a second before nodding. They did have quite a few questions but they decided they would try to limit them to the most important ones. “Will you take turns fighting?” They asked, starting off small so they could get a sense of what it will be like. Sans nodded. “Will you both be using your own magic or your weapons? Do you even have weapons?” Sans chuckled. “We're g-going to use our m-magic, and not w-with us, no.” 

Frisk spouted out two more questions, hardly related to the actual process of fighting. “No one’s actually going to be hurt, right? And why doesn't Mom like fighting? She just seemed so against it…” They said, kind of seeing the answer to their own question. Sans smiled, “Y-you don't have to b-be worried about anyone getting h-hurt. As f-for Tori…” his eye lights dimmed for a moment. 

“Kid, just let m-me tell you this n-n-now,” he said, looking at them with a serious face. “The rest o-of the Underground is a-almost literal hell. E-everyone hates each other, th-there's dust everywhere, a-and fighting is as c-common as breathing. Toriel m-managed to escape to h-here before things got too b-bad… But Bo-- Papyrus and I were st-stuck o-out in that. It took cr-crazy circumstances t-to get us here I-in the first place. Sh-She hates fighting b-because it leads to k-killing; it's what t-the r-rest of t-the Underground does…” 

Frisk felt their eyes widen in shock. They hadn't thought what Flowey said when they first fell down here was actually true! They guessed that there were some tough cookies that Flowey had a rough time with, but hearing it from Sans, hearing him say it like that, just like how the flower had put it, that put things into perspective. It definitely made them happy that they had been found by the seemingly only nice monsters in the underground. 

“Sans,” Papyrus called from across the room. “Are you ready?” Sans walked directly across from his brother and took his hands out of his pockets. “R-ready as I’ll e-ever b-be,” he replied coolly. Papyrus started to summon up his magic again but paused for a second. “... As much as I hate to say this, please go easy on me. I don't want to be completely humiliated in front of the human.” Sans told the taller skeleton that he would. 

Without any hesitation, they began. Papyrus went first, sending out some simple attacks to let his brother warm up. Sans dodged them all easily, just as expected, and the turn passed on to him. His left eye began to glow a deep red and he retaliated with his own attacks, although they came at his brother from all sides they moved slowly to allow him time to dodge them all, something he definitely wouldn't do in an actual battle but since this was sparing no one was to get hurt.

This continued on for some time until Sans decided to add some heat. He turned his younger brother’s soul blue, at first keeping it rooted to the ground as to make dodging more difficult but eventually passing on to moving his soul around so that he would have to find his way around attacks from a different angle. Papyrus was very skilled so he was able to find his way around it without much effort on his part. The problem thus far was that neither of them were really trying… Yet. 

Frisk watched with interest, wondering how it would look from either of their perspectives. They took notice that they had started farther apart but we're slowly getting closer, especially Papyrus to Sans. They thought they had seen him visibly moving closer when he could. What he had in mind, they didn't know, but they bet that he had planned it for some sort of strategy. 

Sure enough, they were extremely close together compared to where they had started a few turns after Frisk had taken notice to their changing placement. Sans really hadn't been paying attention to this and only noticed when it was too late. By then it was Papyrus’ turn, and he summoned a bone to act as a sort of sword. Sans mentally cursed himself for not noticing, close combat had been one of his specialties in the Guard. 

He swung the sword right above Sans head, who ducked to avoid being hit. Papyrus swung again, almost hitting Sans. He made sure to dissipate the attack first before it could make contact with his brother’s skull. Sans had frozen there for a second, a slight panic in his eye sockets. “Are you okay?” Papyrus asked, just to make sure. Sans nodded in response, “Y-yeah… Let's k-keep going.” 

The next swing was interviewed with his own attack, which he used to block his brother’s sword. He felt slight deja vu since he had done the exact same thing with Undyne a few months ago, in his and all of their most recent actual fight. When it came to be Sans’ turn, he teleported a few feet back and rested for a moment. Unlike last time where he came out with full magic levels and was completely ready for the drain, this time with his magic levels already depleted some made it just a little harder to completely match the strength in a weapon Papyrus had been mastering for years. 

Papyrus rolled his eyes. “What?” Sans asked. “I-it's my turn a-and I c-can d-do what I-I want w-with it.” Frisk felt like the comment was directed at them. They guessed it was a valid option, so they noted this just in case. When Sans finished his short break, he sent ground attacks at his brother in an attempt to push him a little further away. It only pushed him back a foot or two, not as much as Sans had anticipated, but he guessed he could work with it. 

Papyrus, however, used Sans’ own idea against him, sending his attacks to meet his brother from behind. This worked better than when his brother had done it since it was much easier to move forward than it is to move back. When his turn came around again, the older skeleton summoned up a large skull like attack, keeping it by his side. Papyrus looked a little startled, taking a step back from his brother. 

Frisk stared at the attack in complete shock for a second, blinking in surprise. “I-is this o-okay?” Sans asked, not wanting to push too far and end up embarrassing his brother in front of Frisk like he said… Not to mention that he would never forgive himself if he hurt his brother, even accidentally. Papyrus hesitated for a moment, then gave a silent nod to let Sans know that the blaster would be allowed in this spar. 

Despite having the powerful weapon at his disposal, Sans did nothing more with his turn other than summoning the blaster. Papyrus looked a little confused at this but said nothing. He sent out more attacks, some on the ground from the back and some from the front to that the two attacks could converge at about the place his brother was standing, making him have to think fast to figure out a way around it. 

He did think fast and tried to act a little faster than he thought so he could be one step ahead. Since they were both traveling at the same speed towards him, Sans had the idea of letting the blaster clear a path from the front while he worked on jumping the ones from the back. Sure, he could always teleport but he hadn't done it yet since he thought it was just a waste in a spar, especially with someone who already knew he possessed this power. If he did do it in front of so one else it would be either to escape or show that he was actually a threat, neither of which were needed here. 

Sure enough, Sans managed to clear all of the attacks that his blaster couldn't block. Since he hadn't been focusing all his magic and attention on it, it had taken some damage. Only slight damage, but he could see light flakes of dust trickling down from where particularly strong attacks had hit. With it being his turn now he easily fixed it, simply adding more magic to it to let it recreate its form. 

Summoning up the power in the blaster, he aimed it straight at Papyrus. He had no doubt that his brother would dodge it easily by jumping to the side or simply stepping out of the way. To his surprise, before he could fire Papyrus started moving, trying to throw off Sans’ aim. Sans smiled to himself, making a mental note to tell his brother that he had made a very good move, but he also smiled because he loved a challenge when it came to this. 

He fired, the beam of magic and light zooming past Papyrus, just to the left of him. The younger skeleton kept moving around, knowing that his idea was working and succeeding in throwing off Sans’ aim. The next blast was close to him but on the opposite side. Getting the hang of it, the shorter skeleton watched his brother moving around, looking for any consistency. When he found one, he waited for the perfect moment and fired. 

Like he had thought, the blast shot straight to where his brother would be in a fraction of a second. However, instead of making any attempt at avoiding the beam by trying to stop, it seemed like Papyrus was frozen for a second. Whatever amount of time he paused for was just enough to let Sans know that his attack would actually hit straight on, just like he had guessed it would and hoped it wouldn't. 

Thinking on his feet, he summoned another blaster, this one facing head on into the blast from the other. It would protect Papyrus and make sure that it wouldn't hurt him since Sans knew he couldn't dispel magic released from the Gaster blasters once fired. He just had to make sure he focused all his magic on it so the sheer power from the blast wouldn't destroy the only thing shielding his brother. 

For that split millisecond, Papyrus thought he was a goner. There was no way he could survive that, especially if one blast had almost killed his previous superior, who was, although he hated to admit it, stronger than him in this way, especially with her armor. When another skull appeared right in front of him he felt relief come in a small wave. 

The magical blast struck the other blaster hard, forcing both the shield and Papyrus backward from the immense force. It was almost if the beam were made of high pressured water, small magical particles being thrown across the surface of the other blaster and ricocheting off the surface and into the walls and floor around him. 

When it was over, Frisk shot up from their seat, thinking Papyrus dead. Both they and Sans looked over to him, seeing the very damaged floating skull where he had been standing at the moment of impact. Sans dispelled the defensive attack and both the human and the shorter skeleton were glad to see Papyrus standing right behind where the shield had been seconds earlier. Sans sighed in relief. Frisk looked over and saw that he had some beads of sweat forming on his skull. They made a mental note to ask how magic worked and why it did what it did. 

“I-I think we sh-should call it a d-d-day,” Sans called out. Papyrus nodded and started to come over to them since they were nearest the exit. Suddenly, a loud crack sounded, shaking the room. Everyone looked up in panic, looking around the room to try and see where the sound originated. Another loud cracking sound went off, shaking the room even more than before. 

Abruptly, a pillar directly behind where Papyrus had been standing a moment ago came into the light as it fell, the fissures and breaks in the stone becoming visible as it came more into the light. It was actually a beautiful sight for a brief moment until it was realized that it was coming down right on top of them all. 

Doing the only thing he could think to do that might possibly work, sans encased the massive stone pillar in his blue magic. Frisk could see it slow down but they could also see Sans struggling out of the corner of their eye. His left eye was blazing, desperately glowing in an attempt to control the object. They could see more beads of sweat forming. If they didn't know better Frisk would have said that it looked like a dim glow was appearing in Sans’ right eye as well. 

The enormous pillar stopped just a few inches from Papyrus’ skull. If it hadn't been for the adrenaline refusing through his bones at the time he may have just fallen over right there. He turned and looked at his brother just as he used all of his strength to push the pillar away from them. It landed on the ground with a thunderclap like sound, shaking the floor so bad that Frisk almost fell over. They were sure even Toriel would've felt it from the house! 

Everything was silent for a second except for Sans’ labored breaths. Papyrus quickly ran over to him, being careful to avoid parts of the pillar that had broken off when it was dropped. He quickly made sure that his brother was alright before asking Frisk if they were okay too. They were silent for a second. “That was awesome…” The said quietly, “...Terrifying, but awesome…” Sans grinned a little at their response. 

They slowly started to walk back, walking only because Sans insisted on doing so, mostly because he didn't know if he could teleport them all such a distance with how much magic he had just spent. They were almost out of the room and back into the rest of the Ruins when they heard Frisk fall to the ground with a small ‘oof’. 

“Frisk, y-you okay?” Sans asked them. They nodded and started to push themself up. They had done nothing more than trip over one of the small rock pieces that had come from the pillar. When they shifted their weight over to their arm, they cried out and quickly sat up, grasping it to their chest with their good arm. They held it out for a second and saw blood coming through the bandages that Toriel had used to wrap up one of their worse injuries. 

The skeletons saw too and exchanged worried glances. They both knew that Toriel would have a bone to pick with both of them if the wound got infected or any worse on the way back. She'd probably have a fit with them for letting something so dangerous happen, despite that not being the direct cause of their injury. Sans sighed and grabbed the hands of the other two, teleporting them back to the house instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> . . .   
>  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH  
> I SWEAR I THOUGHT SUMMER WOULD NOT BE THIS CHAOTIC!   
> I haven't been home in two weeks, both those weeks without any kind of internet or cell service and when I got back I had to go to school, and it's just been insane for me! I'm currently finishing up about three different chapters and starting the-...   
> Nope, not going to spoil it :3 that would just be cruel. Anyway, expect the next parts over the next few days, and again, so sorry for not updating in a while! (also I only need a little more than 1000 words before I go over the total word count of AKATD! I'm so close I can feel it!)  
> Thanks for reading!


	8. Life's a screaming flower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DO I KNOW WHAT THE TITLE MEANS? NO! IT JUST SOUNDS LIKE A CREATIVE TITLE!   
> And if you can't tell by the title, Flowey's gonna scream at some point.   
> Also, there is a bubble fight :3  
> Enjoy!

The two skeletons and Frisk appeared in the living room instantaneously. Flowey had been sitting on the floor reading a book directly in front of where they had teleported in, so their sudden appearance scared him bad enough to make him scream for a brief moment. He dove under the ground for a second before popping back up further away. 

Toriel rushed out of the kitchen when she heard the flower’s scream, drawing her fire to her paws in case of an attack of some kind. There was an oven mitt still over one of her hands. She immediately dropped her guard when she saw Papyrus supporting his seemingly exalted brother and Frisk standing with them, worriedly looking at Sans and clutching their bloody arm. 

“Oh my,” she said, rushing over toward them. “What happened?” Papyrus looked slightly downcast for a second before returning his attention to his brother, who really wasn't looking any better. Frisk took it upon themself to try and explain. “Well, everything was fine and we were about to head back since Sans was tired from the spar,” they took a breath. “But when we were leaving a big pillar fell and almost crushed us! Sans saved us but I think he used up too much magic…” They let their eyes travel worriedly over to their friend. 

Toriel bent down and held their injured arm, releasing some healing magic on it, “how did this happen?” When she asked them her eyes narrowed some. Frisk looked at the floor, a little embarrassed, “I… I tripped over one of the pillar pieces…” Toriel’s gaze softened, glad to hear that it was only an accident not (directly) caused by the fight. She made a mental note to clean and redress the arm after she made sure that the skeletons weren't in any danger. 

“Sans,” she said softly, “are you alright?” Papyrus shook his head no, while his brother started to nod before changing his mind. She checked his stats really quickly, noting his low magic levels. It was probably magic exhaustion that had him feeling bad, from experience she knew that his magic levels would have to be replenished soon or else he could be in danger, especially since he was a monster whose physical form relies heavily on magic to keep it together. 

The pie she had been baking was fresh out of the oven and not too hot. She was about to make lunch just before everyone else showed up but she guessed the pie would do. After all, monster food did restore magic levels and heal recent wounds. 

Toriel walked into the kitchen for a minute and cut out some slices of pie, carefully placing two slices on their own plates and taking them outside. She handed one to Frisk, who was sitting with Flowey. The other was handed out to the skeletons. Papyrus took it, gingerly using the for to cut off a small piece before he helped his brother to eat it. It made Toriel smile, just thinking of how far they’d come. 

She went back into the kitchen and cut slices for Flowey and Papyrus, setting their plates down next to them for when they were ready. The goat woman decided that she would be fine without a slice for a while. She sat down in her chair and waited, still not noticing the single oven mitt over her paw. Sans was finished first with the help of his brother. He seemed to have his magic levels back in order and his energy replenished, making her sigh quietly in relief. 

Frisk felt their HoPe rise back up to full and their arm heal some too, although they would need it to be wrapped up again. They smiled as they watched Flowey try to use his fork properly. They let him practice on his own, knowing that he would figure out the best way to do it eventually. 

Toriel cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. She caught it immediately, four heads turning to face her stern expression at once. “Sans, are you feeling well now?” She asked, voice full of care but at the same time having an edge to it. He nodded, “Y-yeah, I’m fine now.” He quickly summoned a bone to show his magic was functioning properly, dispelling it after a few moments. “Thanks f-for the pie,” he added. 

Toriel’s warm smile returned to her face, lighting it up like it was part of the fire magic she possessed. “It is no problem. Are you feeling better, my child?” Frisk nodded, not saying anything. 

The mother part of Toriel kicked into overdrive, making her put on one of her expert resolves, not allowing any them to see any of the kindness and compassion that lay in her soul. Beads of magical sweat appeared on the souls of both the skeletons, unknowing what would transpire shortly. “By what Frisk has told me, I have heard that during your training you knocked over one of the large pillars above the begging of the Ruins. Is this true?” Sans and Papyrus nodded. 

“So there is currently a broken stone pillar scattered about where children may fall on it? Keep in mind that merely tripping over one of these broken pieces is enough to injure a child.” The skeleton brothers nodded again, hesitant and slower this time, Sans Shrinking back slightly into his brother’s form. “It would be in the best interest of everyone in the Ruins to then move the stone to places where it cannot do much damage, would it not?” More nodding. 

She stood up, cold resolve melting away to reveal the true monster inside. “I am not angry with any of you,” she said, sympathy lacing her tone. “I am just asking that you are not so careless in the future. You all could have died, not to mention that Sans almost died because he saved your lives.” She sighed, what little anger she had folding in on itself and becoming almost non-existent. “Please be more careful next time,” she finished. 

Papyrus spoke in response, surprising Toriel some, not that she let it show. “We’re sorry, Toriel. I will make sure that we don't make a mistake like that again.” He sounded like he actually meant it too. Toriel could guess that his brother’s life being in danger set him straight here. “Good,” she said. “I hope nothing like this happens again.” 

Frisk watched silently, happy their new mom wasn't very angry. “I would really appreciate it if you two did clean up the damage. That last thing I want is someone else getting hurt today.” With that, she turned into the kitchen and disappeared. 

Sans shrugged, “s-seems fair.” He stretched and stood up, holding his hand out it his taller brother. Flowey watched them carefully, a strange yet unreadable expression on his face. The skeletons left to go clean up shortly after, leaving Frisk, Flowey, and Toriel in the home in the Ruins. 

Frisk stood up, leaving Flowey in the floor and sending a shock of dull pain up their arm. They would need to have it redressed, so they stood up and walked into the kitchen, hoping Toriel wasn't busy already. She wasn't, apparently having only been able to put up the rest of the pie and take off the one oven mitt that had remained in her paw through the whole ordeal. “Mom?” They said, drawing all her attention to them. 

“What is it, my child?” She asked them. Frisk held out their arm and she knew what they meant without them having to say anything. She gently took their other hand and led them into the living room, back where Flowey was putting his book away and making an attempt to pick up the used dishes. Toriel disappeared for a moment, only to come back moments later with the first aid kit. 

Flowey watched silently as Toriel gently rewrapped their arm. A small memory came to his mind, almost exactly the same as what was happening right before him; his mother bandaging the fallen child. He pushed it down, not wanting to think about it ever again. Frisk was different and he would keep them safe. When he saw Frisk looking at him funny he shrunk down into the floor and reappeared elsewhere.

Frisk tried to shrug it off, but it felt a little odd to them. Deciding to ask him about it later, they smiled as Toriel showed them the new bandaging. She started to walk back into the kitchen picking up the used plates Flowey had gathered. She almost disappeared into the kitchen but they caught up with her. They gently tugged on her dress. “Huh?” Toriel turned around, “Yes, my child?” Frisk smiled up at her. “I was wondering if you wanted any help with the dishes,” they said. 

Toriel’s smile widened, “Of course my child, I would love that.” She set the dishes down next to the sink, then bent down and retrieved a stool from the cabinets beneath the sink. Toriel placed in next to where she would stand to wash the dishes, gesturing for Frisk to come over. They walked over and stepped up on the stool, watching as she put on two rubber gloves. They smiled almost laughed out loud at the thought of how silly Toriel would look with soaked paws. They could hardly imagine what they would look like if they were blow dried, the thought making then snicker to themself. 

Toriel ran warm water into the sink, stopping up the drain when the water became warm enough for use. She reached below the sink again and came out with dish soap and a scrubby sponge in her gloved paws. Frisk’s eyes widened when they saw the soap, “Oooooo! Can I pour the soap, Mom?” They asked her with a voice full of excitement. She handed the bottle to them and watched as they poured a sparing amount of soap into the water, the fresh water from the tap making the soap mix with the water and bubble up so much that it completely covered the water. Frisk smiled widely, their favorite part of doing the dishes was watching the bubbles explode in the sink after the soap was poured. 

They stuck their hand in the soapy water, pulling some of the bubbles into their hands. Frisk then held the bubbles to their chin and when Toriel looked back at them after turning off the tap they were smiling at her, a bubble beard spread beneath their grin. Toriel smiled too, not able to stop her giggles. Suddenly, Frisk stood on the tips of their toes and quickly swiped bubbles on her face. Toriel looked at them for a moment and blinked once before they both burst out laughing. She retaliated by putting bubbles on their nose, making them both laugh harder. 

After they were finished with their bubble fight, there were bubbles all over the two of them and strewn about the room. Both of them were laughing and smiling widely. As soon as they managed to stop their giggles, Toriel reached for the hand towel and turned on the tap for a second, soaking it. She handed it to Frisk so they could get the stickiness off their face and hands if they wanted. Sure, both their clothes were damp and bubbly but they could wash later. 

Toriel turned on the water again, warmer than before to reheat the slightly cool water in the sink. She picked up the first plate and submerged it in the water, the rest of the plates, dishes, and utensils following shortly. The sponge was used to clean the dishes, quickly polishing the dirty plates and silverware after the remnants of any food were washed off. Toriel handed the plate to Frisk, making sure they had a hold of it before letting go and starting on the next dish. Frisk took the clean plate and used the washcloth to dry it, placing the dry plate on the countertop next to them when they were finished. 

It went quicker than they had expected, the efficiency of Toriel washing and themself drying making it almost like an assembly line that they had once learned about. Toriel hummed while they both worked, keeping the happy and upbeat mood about them. After all the dishes were clean and dry, Toriel put a hand in Frisk’s shoulder. “I will put up the dishes, they belong much too high for you to reach safely,” she said. They nodded, hopping down from the stool. “Oh,” she said, remembering something suddenly. “Flowey said something to me earlier about wanting to speak with you when you have the chance.” She turned back, opening the first cabinet and beginning to put away the plates. “I could not get him to tell me what about, but I made sure that he would not harm you or anyone else here.” Frisk raised an eyebrow. “I did not threaten him, my child. Now you may go see what he wants.” 

Frisk nodded, walking out of the kitchen and into the living room. Flowey wasn't there, neither was his book they had seen him with earlier. They glanced into the skeleton brother’s room, partially on accident since the door still wasn't fixed, but still not seeing the flower. They walked past their mom’s room, not seeing any reason for him to be there. Besides, the door was closed anyway. Last, they approached their own door, spying him immediately. 

Flowey was bent over his book, struggling to read in the low light area. Frisk assumed that he couldn't turn on the light, so they flipped it on for him. He let out a small hiss and looked up at Frisk with squinted eyes. His anger dissolved when he saw Frisk smiling down at him apologetically. “Sorry,” Frisk said. “I didn't mean to hurt your eyes.” 

Flowey bookmarked his page and closed the book. “It's fine, Frisk,” he told them. Frisk spoke again, “Toriel said you wanted to talk to me about something.” He nodded after a moment of hesitation. The flower patted a spot on the ground across from him with one of his vines, gesturing for them to sit down. Frisk sat down, not having any sort of clue what was in store for them. 

“You know what, I'm gonna get straight to the point,” Flowey said. “Have you ‘saved’ recently?” Frisk raised an eyebrow. At first, they hadn't a clue what he was talking about. After a moment of thought, they remembered saving shortly before they walked in the Ruins. Slowly, the human nodded. 

Flowey sighed in relief. “Listen, Frisk,” he said. “I used to have the same power before you came along and had enough determination to override it. One thing I want to tell you is don't. Misuse. This power.” The flower looked them straight in the face, his stare unwavering. “I abused it, and by the time I figured out I was hurting people, it was too late.” 

Frisk felt a little more worried now, like a small weight had been placed on their chest. “You can reset the world, Frisk. Meaning that if you die, you will come back where you last saved. You can also load, the same as a reset but without your death. You can change and alter the fate of everyone, so save often, Frisk.” 

Flowey’s eyes became sympathetic, wide and understanding, but still worried, in the fraction of a second. “You don't have to worry,” he reassured them. “I'll be here to help you, Sans too… Just don't reset unless you have to, he and I can remember them…” Flowey's eyes darted to the ground. “He's still mad at me for some things I did, and I don't blame him. But he also remembers when I tried to help him, so please, please, Frisk, don't misuse this. Don't take advantage of it.” 

Frisk looked downward and took in a deep breath and let it out, letting Flowey’s warning sink in. After a moment of silence, they looked back up, determination burning brightly in their eyes. “Don't worry,” they said calmly. “I won't, Flowey. I know I won't.” 

He sighed in relief, letting out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He smiled, “of course you won't, you're too nice for that.” The flower ruffled their slightly damp hair, making them giggle. “You want to play a board game?” He asked. Frisk nodded happily. Flowey smiled back at them, grabbing a game from the shelf and setting it down on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders  
> *It fills you with determination
> 
>  
> 
> (No one will ever see what I have planned coming... "What? What are you talking about?" you may ask. I will not tell. . .) 
> 
> (*speaks in demon voice*)  
> ALL WRITERS AND INHERENTLY EVIL!
> 
> *cough*   
> Have a nice day everyone! The next part will be out soon!


	9. The Wheels Are Set in Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for a screwdriver is on! And after an intense game of Battleship, some revealations are revealed about both the skeleton brothers and Flowey's past.   
> Enjoy!

Right before dinner, Frisk had been given a temporary set of clothes while theirs were being washed. It was basically the same outfit, just newer and in different colors. They now had a red and black striped shirt with dark brown shorts and black lace up boots. It was comfortable and served its purpose, which is all they really cared about. Frisk was also almost one hundred percent certain that the Underground had an abundance of red and black clothing, a little too much for the calm Ruins if you asked them. 

Dinner had gone smoothly, both the skeletons hungry from clearing out the first room of the Ruins. After they all ate they put together a three thousand piece puzzle Papyrus had brought from Snowdin. Frisk had asked what it was like out there, gathering a little information about the Underground. 

“Hell,” Sans had said. “C-constantly cold, lots of d-dust, too many fights.” Papyrus nodded in agreement. Toriel had placed a warm hand on their shoulder, “do not worry, my child. You will always be safe here.” 

Shortly after when Flowey couldn't find the right piece he threw it across the room and swiped the completed part of the puzzle off the table. Toriel decided that that was enough for one night, leaving to clean the dishes with Sans while Papyrus cleaned up his puzzle with Flowey and Frisk. It was done quickly, so much so that Papyrus asked Frisk for a favor. 

“Human,” he said, crouching down to their height. “I want to fix the door on my bedroom, but for that, I need a screwdriver.” Frisk thought to the broken door in the room of the skeleton brothers. They nodded their little head. “I have a suspicion there is one hidden in storage, but I can’t find it… Do you think you could help me?” 

Frisk smiled and nodded excitedly, happy to have a chance to help him out. Flowey shrugged in the corner of their vision, a silent ‘why not’. A sudden question came to their mind, “Wait, where is the storage place you’re talking about?” Papyrus smiled at them, standing and walking back to their room. “It may or may not be behind this pallet.” 

He shifted the pallet in their room to the side, revealing a slightly cluttered storage area. “Cool,” they said, moving into the small space. Papyrus flicked on a light overhead, allowing them to see a little better. Out of the corner of their eye, Frisk spotted a save point. Remembering what Flowey told them, they quickly reached out to it. 

‘*the prospect of finding the screwdriver fills you with DETERMINATION. *File saved.’ Frisk smiled and turned around, finding Papyrus and Flowey already looking around in boxes and such. They dove right in, searching for some kind of toolkit, a box of screws, anything that might help point to the location of the missing screwdriver. 

Frisk pulled out a box and went through it, finding nothing but different gardening tools in it. There were a couple packets of seeds in there too. Maybe if they were still good they could have a small garden near the bed of buttercups. The thought of a garden of their own made them smile. 

The next box was one of what looked like office supplies, paper, pencils, pens, tape. Frisk guessed that no one here would have much use of such items, but they pushed the box to the side so they could ask if they could use some of it later. They had to admit, they loved coloring. Flowey probably would enjoy it too, or at least they thought so. 

Speaking of Flowey, they glanced to the side and saw him going through a shelf, moving things around to search for the screwdriver. There seemed to be towels and other cleaning supplies there. Frisk looked around at the chaotic room. It seemed as if there once was some method of organization since there were some boxes of things that held items they were designated for. Frisk hoped that they could find some hardware box or shelf, but they bet it was hidden. It was almost certain that it would have been found before now. 

Flowey gasped, “I think I found one!” He lowered himself to the floor and let one of his vines slither out under one of the shelves, Frisk and Papyrus gathering around him as he tried to reach it. They both saw his face light up as he pulled his vine out from beneath the shelf. A screwdriver was wrapped up in it, Flowey proudly holding it up for them both to see. 

“Great job, Flowey!” Frisk said, glad the task was completed. He smiled proudly and handed it to the skeleton. Papyrus walked out of the storage section of the room and towards the door, Frisk and Flowey trailing shortly behind him. He walked into his room and flipped on the light switch, allowing them to get a better view of what they were looking at. 

Suddenly they all realized this would be a lot harder than it had first seemed. The hinges on the door were damaged from it being practically ripped from them, the wood was damaged to the point of splintering, and the screws that remained were bent and seemingly unusable. “...” Nothing was said for a moment. “Back to the storage room,” Papyrus declared. 

“What exactly are we looking for?” Flowey asked as they made their way back into the storage room. The skeleton went right back to what he was doing before, making his way through boxes strewn about the storage room from their previous search. “Hinges, screws, and a piece of wood to replace the damaged one,” he listed. 

Frisk went back to searching their self-designated area, hoping it had any of the three items needed to fix the door. They didn't have a single clue where anything would be, especially the board. A thought crossed their mind “Flowey, were there any screws with the screwdriver?” He shook his head, sending the search back to square one. 

It didn't take them very long to have gone through over half the storage room. Everyone was making an effort to try to organize the boxes as they went through them, lessening the already limited floor space there was. There were a few separate piles, one for kitchen, one for comfort, one for decor, and one last one for miscellaneous items. It would take a while to go through the whole room, but everyone agreed to set that aside for another day. 

Even after what felt like hours of searching, but was probably only about half an hour, not a single item was found. Frisk had cleared their entire area or at least the parts they could reach. They grabbed a stool from one of the piles and shifted it over so they could see the next shelf. They could barely see inside the next box, making them stand on the tips of their toes to get the extra height needed to see into the box. 

Their efforts were rewarded with… Nothing. There was literally nothing in the box, which the human found a little strange. They picked up the box and hopped down to put it in one of the piles. When they jumped from the stool, they lost their balance and ended up half kicking it back into the shelf. Everyone turned around to look when it made contact, the impact making a dull thud and causing the shelf to shake. 

Frisk was pulled back just in time, a box crashing directly where they had been standing only seconds before, a metallic sound emanating from it. Both Papyrus and Flowey had grabbed them, having seen the box and its impending fall before Frisk had realized what happened. They were gently set down by both the monsters a second later, the suddenness of what happened still sinking in. 

Frisk timidly reached down and flipped the box over, its contents spilling out onto the floor. It had landed upside down, so there was really no way to prevent the mess. They just took it as a different way to go through the box. Frisk was now even more happy that their friends had pulled them to safety, the box had been full of nails, screws, and other assorted metal products. 

“Well,” they said, picking up a few of the screws, “I guess that's one way to find the screws.” Frisk held them up and smiled, turning around in time to see Sans and Toriel poke their heads into the room, worried expressions on their faces. “Is everyone alright?” Toriel asked. “Y-yeah, that sounded p-pretty bad,” Sans added, his eye lights sweeping the room. 

Papyrus answered for them, “it's fine, a box of…” He glanced at the box’s contents, “screws and other metal things fell.” He left off the part about it almost hitting Frisk, probably for the best. Toriel let out a silent sigh of relief, both her and Sans’ expressions relaxing. 

“What w-were you guys doing I-in here, anyway?” Sans asked them. He glanced around the room, seeing the assorted piles and the mess of metal on the floor. Frisk spoke before anyone else, “we were going to fix the door to your room, but we didn't have any of the supplies…” 

Toriel smiled at them, “that is very kind of all of you, but it is becoming late. We can all work on this tomorrow, but now I think we should all quiet down.” Frisk nodded, then yawned. They hadn't really thought about how late it was and guessed that everyone should get some sleep after today. 

One by one they filed out of the storage room. Frisk and Flowey decided to finish their game since they had to stop for dinner. Both of them knew at this point it was anyone’s game. They had been playing battleship and both of them had about five more shots until all their ships were down. Flowey had two ships, his destroyer unharmed and his submarine with one hit down and two more to go. Frisk had their biggest ship, completely unharmed. 

It was Flowey’s turn, “A, eight.” Frisk tried not to let anything slip through their mask and keep their calm poker face. That spot had been right next to their ship, and unless they managed to find Flowey’s last one with no misses they knew that the game would be over. “Miss,” they said, handing him a white marker. 

It was Frisk’s first time playing this game, but so far they had really enjoyed it. It seemed like Flowey knew what he was doing, leading them to believe he had had some kind of experience playing this before. “I, three,” they said. Flowey had to stop himself from saying anything. He exhaled, “hit.” 

Not wanting to seem mean and rub it in Flowey’s face, they celebrated their small victory in their head. They placed a red marker on I, 3 on their small board. Two hits in a row, and if they got the next one then his ship would sink. “F, three,” Flowey said, making Frisk almost sigh in relief. “Miss.” He was handed another white marker. 

Frisk smiled playfully as they spoke, “I, four.” A grin perked at the corners of the flower’s mouth, “Hit.” Frisk grabbed a red marker and placed it next to the last one, expecting Flowey to say ‘you sunk my battleship!’. He didn't say anything though, only looking where to send his next attack. 

They raised an eyebrow, confused. “F, eight,” he said, marking the first hit on the end of Frisk’s ship. “Hit,” they said, handing him a red marker. Since Frisk was still new to this game, they expected that Flowey had used some sort of trick or loophole. They still didn't know what it was, but they would figure it out eventually. Maybe one day they could use it to their advantage. 

I, 5 was a miss. Flowey managed to hit their ship again, leaving only three spots left. Although Flowey should have only had two places left to be hit on his board, Frisk wasn't sure where they were. “I, one?” They said it like a question. Flowey let out a slightly frustrated sigh, “you sunk my battleship.” 

A blue marker went down next to the red ones. Suddenly, it all made sense. Flowey must have placed his ships in a way so that it would look like it was one ship when it really wasn't. Something kinda like an ‘L’ shape, but if the bottom line were another ship. If they already had the four, then all they needed to do is figure out where the other part of the smaller ship was. “D, eight.” Oops, in all their excitement over their realization, they had forgotten it was Flowey’s turn. It was another hit. Frisk sucked in a breath, “H, four?” Flowey grinned a little more, “miss.” 

Frisk sighed as their ship took another hit. Both of them had one hit left on their ships, and both of them knew or at least thought they did, exactly where it was. The only thing that decided whose victory it was, came down to the order. Frisk called out, “J, four!” This time, Flowey handed them one of his blue markers. “You sunk my battleship.” 

Flowey congratulated Frisk on winning their first game of battleship. Frisk smiled, yawning again after they did so. “Are you tired already?” He asked them teasingly. Frisk gathered the game pieces together and put them back into the box and stood up when they were finished. “Yeah, believe it or not. I just want some water before I go to sleep.” 

They both got up and walked out the doorway, immediately spying Sans sitting with his back to Toriel’s door. He knocked on it gently. “Knock, knock.” Frisk heard a muffled giggle through the door before they heard Toriel’s voice. “Who is there?” She asked. Sans smile widened, “tank.” Flowey tugged on their arm, but they wanted to watch for another second. “Tank who?” 

“Tank you, o-of course. For everything, especially letting us stay here.” Toriel laughed warmly from the other side of the door, making Frisk smile. She began to say something else that Frisk wanted to hear, but Flowey tugged on their arm again, so they relented and turned around and started back down the hall to get some water. When they went into the kitchen, they suddenly remembered that they couldn't reach the glasses last time they saw them. Flowey saw Frisk’s dilemma and came up with a quick solution. 

“Frisk, let me on your arm and I can grab the glass for you,” he suggested. Frisk shrugged, leaning their arm down to the floor. They giggled as Flowey slithered his way up their arm. Flowey rolled his eyes at them. Frisk lifted him towards the cabinet, stretching into their tippy toes again. Flowey summoned a vine and opened the cabinet, effortlessly grabbing a glass and shutting the door. 

Frisk thought for a moment, holding Flowey up to their eye level. “Wait, why couldn't you just do that from the ground?” Flowey did his best to imitate a shrug. “It's not like I'd be able to see very well from down there.” Frisk lifted their finger to argue, faltering at the last second. Flowey went ahead and filled the cup up with water from the sink, holding it up to Frisk for them to take with their other hand. “Good point,” they said, making Flowey smile in amusement. 

They gently took the glass from Flowey's grasp and took a sip from it. Frisk bent down and let Flowey slide back into the ground so he could move freely. He looked a little disappointed and Frisk felt a little bad for him. They gently patted him on the head and started to walk back to their room. 

The two of them hadn't even made it to the hallway when they heard what sounded like soft sobs. Frisk walked a little closer to where they thought it was coming from. They turned to look at Flowey, who was right behind them. If all that stuff about the ‘reset’ was true, then maybe he would know what was going on. When they saw his face he looked just as concerned and confused as they felt. Both of them glanced down the hallway, seeing Sans still leaning on Toriel’s door, leading them to believe they were still there telling jokes. 

That only left one inhabitant of the house left; Papyrus. It seemed like Flowey was having the same realization simultaneously with Frisk if his expression was anything to go by that is. Frisk mouthed to him, ‘what should we do?’. Flowey imitated a shrug and mouthed back. ‘I don't know! Should we try to comfort him?’ The human shrugged in response. 

They gestured to themself, then to the door, mouthing ‘I'm going in,’ to their friend. Flowey almost tried to stop them but didn't seem any real harm other than a possible, more like inevitable, awkward encounter with the skeleton. He sighed and nodded, following Frisk as they entered the room. 

Papyrus was curled up against the side of the bed, sitting on the floor. There was some sort of book open in his hands, it seemed to be handwritten by what Frisk could tell at a glance. He seemed to be crying because of whatever it said. “Papyrus?” They asked softly, not wanting to startle him. He whipped his head around towards the two of them, shock making its presence known on his tear streaked skull. 

He sat up a little straighter, closing whatever he was reading and setting it on his right, away from Frisk and Flowey. They could both tell he was trying his best to stop his tears and appear alright, but it was to no avail. After a moment of staring at each other, Frisk dropped down to their knees and gave Papyrus a big hug. Papyrus was fairly still, just letting them hug him but unsure whether to return it. It was kinda sad for Flowey to watch. 

After another second, Frisk let go. Papyrus tried to wipe his tears away, more coming to replace them in seconds. An idea coming into their head, Frisk held up their finger as if to say ‘wait a second’ without speaking. They dashed out of the room, leaving a slightly confused Flowey behind. 

Frisk practically sprinted down to the next room, where Sans sat against the door chuckling. “Sans,” they said, concern filling their voice. He opened his eyes and looked at them, worry creeping onto his features at their distressed tone. “Y-yeah? Something wrong?” He asked them. Frisk nodded. 

“Your brother is really upset about something and I don't know what to do,” they quickly told him. Sans’ worry more than quadrupled. Shaking his head once to gather his wits, he knocked on the door again, this time telling Toriel good night. “I b-bet Frisk is waiting for you to tuck them i-in,” he added, not wanting to make Frisk or Toriel worried about anything. 

They nodded and mouthed a 'thanks' before speed walking into their room. They quickly got into bed and pulled the covers up over themself to look like they were ready for bed. Toriel walked in a moment later, a warm smile on her face as always. She fixed the covers do they weren't all messy and leaned over them to give them a kiss goodnight. “Good night, my child,” She said. Frisk smiled, reaching up and giving her a hug. 

“Goodnight, mom,”. They told her, smiling right back. Frisk settled right back into the covers, the soft blanket warming them to just the right temperature. Toriel started to walk out of the room but remembered something at the last second. She walked over to the small dresser and picked up a little box from the top of it. It looked like she turned a handle a few times before smiling again and leaving, closing the door behind her. 

Soft music began to play on what they determined to be a music box. They recognized it as the tune she had been humming earlier while they did the dishes. It made them feel safe, and forget their worries, however few they had. Frisk smiled and snuggled deeper into the covers, the smile on their face lasting as they started to drift off to sleep. 

They were interrupted by Flowey gently poking them, startling Frisk and making them jump. Flowey backed away from the bedside, “sorry, sorry!” He was whispering and there was no light shining from under the door, leading them to believe everyone else must already be asleep, or at least in bed. If the Flowey had woken them up it must be important. 

“Papyrus is okay now,” he whispered to them, wanting to tell them the good news first. Frisk nodded, a small weight lifting off their chest. “Did you find out what was making him cry?” They asked, curiosity and concern mixing in their tone. Flowey glanced to the side, but they couldn't see it since it was dark. 

He sighed, “No, I didn't find out. I think it was whatever he was reading, but I don't know why that would make him upset…” Flowey trailed off. Frisk silently waited for him to elaborate, hoping he would. “He's never done that before… At least I've never seen him cry, not like that at least.” 

Frisk guessed that it had something to do with the resets he had talked to them about earlier that day. They still didn't completely understand it, but they guessed it would make sense in time. “I should tell you before you get all confused,” Flowey started. “Back in Snowdin, where they lived before this, Sans and Papyrus didn't really…” He searched for the right words. “Get along…” 

He sighed, thinking back to those horrible times in Snowdin, countless failures of him trying to help out Sans and get his brother to come to his senses. “Papyrus was… Very mean to say the least, and I don't really want to go in depth here. I tried so many times with my reset, trying and failing again and again to help them, but nothing ever worked.” Sadness crept into his tone, and without realizing it Flowey began to tear up. 

“Sometimes I would try to convince Papyrus that he was wrong, but that either resulted in my death or even Sans’... Once I tried helping Sans to sneak away... after that Grillby was dead and Sans horribly injured before Papyrus killed me…” Frisk’s eyes grew wide in sadness and empathy for him. Knowing now that they had this power made this seem all the more intimidating. “Once I… I-I even tried killing Papyrus… I never forgave myself, after it. By the time it was over both of them were dust…” 

A tear silently made its way down his face. “The only other time I saw Papyrus cry was one time, when I let his brother's death, at his own hands, play out for a while… It was cruel, I know, but he actually realized he was wrong. It was the only way to make him see, but I couldn't just let Sans die and Papyrus suffer for the rest of his life… So I reset, and didn't do anything for a while.” 

Flowey lifted his head up to look at them. He chuckled, “next thing you know, here we are.” They processed the information silently. Frisk couldn't understand how any of that could be true! They had always seemed like the best of brothers, even though they had only known them for such a short period of time. Now that they thought back to it, what had happened at the spike puzzle this morning seemed very strange. It was like Sans had been afraid of his brother for a moment… Just like Flowey said…

“We have to get that book,” Frisk spoke suddenly. Flowey’s head jerked up. He raised an eyebrow at them even though they couldn't see it in the dark. “What? Why?” Frisk sat up fully in their bed sitting up straight to get a better look at the flower. 

“Think about it,” they said. “You couldn't help them for so long, then suddenly this happens and Papyrus has realized he was wrong. It's the only explanation for his change in behavior from then to now.” Flowey nodded slowly, they were surely on to something. “If they only other time you've seen him cry was when he figured out he was wrong and felt bad about it, not to mention that Sans was gone, then whatever in that book must have been reminding him of whatever he did.” 

It clicked in Flowey’s head a second after they finished. “We have to get that book,” he said, just like they had a minute or two ago. Frisk smiled and laughed silently. “So,” Flowey whispered. “How are we going to get it?” They didn't say anything at first, just flopping back onto their bed and pulling the covers up over themself. The flower raised an eyebrow and appeared next to the side of the bed, face to face with the child. “What's that supposed to mean?” 

Frisk grinned at him, eyes closed. “It means that I'm going to go to sleep now. It's not like we can come up with much of a plan anyway,” they yawned. “Especially when I'm tired. We'll figure it out tomorrow, wait until there's no one around and find the book.” Flowey opened his mouth to argue, closing it after a second of silence. 

“Fine, you can sleep,” he said. “Goodnight, sleepyhead.” Frisk rolled over in their bed and smiled again. “Goodnight, Flowey,” they sighed. With that, Frisk slipped into a deep sleep while Flowey sat there, trying to piece together what he knew with what was happening, and trying to come up with some sort of plan. 

…

Sans walked down the hall, quickly but quietly. With every step he could feel more imaginary butterflies in his imaginary stomach, his worry almost overcoming him. Papyrus wasn't like this, which is what worried him the most. Even if something was bothering him, he normally talked it out with Sans or came to him for a second opinion. Just before entering the room he stopped and took in a deep breath to calm himself. 

He stepped into the room and saw a slightly confused Papyrus with tears making their way down his skull. Sans speedily walked to his brother and dropped down on his knees, looking his brother in the face. “P-Papyrus,” he said, not managing to seem as calm as he would have liked. “Wh-what's wrong?” The older skeleton opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by his brother. 

Papyrus had swept him into a fierce hug, taking his brother by surprise. He sat there in shock for a moment, feeling tears drop down onto the tattered fluffy hood of his jacket. His mind was searching for any possible cause of his brother being upset. After a moment, it clicked. He hugged Papyrus back, a few tears welling up in his eye sockets. He couldn't let them fall though, he couldn't let his brother see. It would only make his younger brother feel worse. 

Holding his brother closer, he spoke, “Pap, w-why didn't y-y-you s-say anything?” He held tighter for a second before breaking the embrace he began. Now he took a breath to calm himself before he spoke. “I-I just felt awful,” Papyrus said, voice cracking once due to crying. Sans almost spoke again, interrupted before he could speak, by his brother again, “Also I didn't want to worry the human…” 

“Sure, b-but you sh-should h-have told me,” Sans said. “I'm s-sorry, B-Boss, it was my fault. I-I just o-overreacted a-and-” 

“It's my fault you would have reacted like that in the first place!” Papyrus cried, tears returning and volume increasing. He sobbed into his hands for a second before Sans had time to reach over and hug him again. “L-listen,” he told him. “It's behind u-us. I-it's over, it's I-I-in the p-past,” he emphasized it, trying desperately to get his point across. 

Papyrus let out a shuddering breath, “you're right, Sans. You're right… I still feel awful though.” Sans let go and shuffled around to face his brother directly. He put a hand on the taller’s shoulder, making him look him in the eyes. “I-I know, b-but I f-forgive you. I'll a-always forgive y-you. I-I promise.” 

Papyrus pulled him back into another hug, “I know, I may never see why, but I know… I love you, brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Evil laughter*  
> mwaH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!  
> Ahhhhhhhh, everythingsgoingdownhill  
> >;3
> 
> See you all in the next chapter! (So like in a day or two, but taking all honors classes as a freshman is a TON of work!)


	10. Doors, Chores, Past Fear,s and Present Fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After fixing the door Frisk and Flowey find what they were looking for...

Metal clinked and clanked against metal as Frisk, Flowey, and Papyrus all picked up the extra screws and hinges from the fallen box. They had already collected what they needed from the box and it was currently with the screwdriver by the door. They almost had everything they needed to fix the door, wood being the only remaining item. Where they would get this, they had no clue. 

Frisk looked at the practically demolished board. It was approximately one and a half inches wide, maybe two inches. (Or about however many centimeters because Americans (like myself) can't handle the metric system! XD). They turned their head to face the others, “Aren't houses supposed to come with replacement boards or something?” The flower shrugged in response. Papyrus shook his head ‘no’. They went back to looking at the board. “I think we're going to need a hammer and some nails…” 

Flowey sighed, “I'll go get it.” He disappeared into the ground to go after the tools. They had finished organizing as much as they could, so it probably wouldn't take very long for him to return. That assumption was correct, the flower appearing back within a minute or two. He had a hammer and a few nails of varying lengths in ‘hand’, which he promptly held out for Papyrus to take. 

He took them and flipped on the light in the room, illuminating the doorway a little more as well as lighting up the rest of the room. With the hammer in hand, he reached towards the nails at the top of the broken board, intending to remove them. Frisk raised an eyebrow. “Even if we can't find a new board, this one is doing no good here,” he said, sliding the smallest part of the hammer between a nail and the board. 

It fell to the ground with one swift motion, the tiny, slightly bent nail hitting the floor with a dull thud. The one next to it followed and after Papyrus knelt down to the ones near the floor the whole board came off. He set it against the wall in the hallway and looked back at the small crack between the two other boards and the interior of the wall. Frisk’s eyes were drawn to the pink fuzz that was on the inside of the wall. It looked like cotton candy, something they had had once at a school end of the year party. 

They reached out to touch it, then thought better of it and pulled their hand back. Who knows what it was or why it was in the wall, so if they didn't know what it was they guessed it would be better not to touch it, or else they might suffer unknown consequences. “Are we sure there was nothing we could use in storage?” Flowey asked. 

“If there is, it's hidden a little too well,” Papyrus responded. Silence came back over the group as they thought. Flowey glanced back toward the bed, trying to see underneath. Frisk’s sudden departure yesterday had distracted Flowey for long enough so that when he looked back at Papyrus, the book was no longer next to him. Since he hadn’t moved, Flowey's only guess was that he had hidden it somewhere within reach, which narrowed down the spots. That was of course if it hadn't been moved again since the little incident… 

He shook his head and narrowed his eyes, trying to look beneath the bed. Frisk’s thoughts were also wandering, silently asking what life was like outside of the Ruins for the skeletons, asking what it was like before whatever crazy mess landed them here. They were also asking themself whether this was the right thing to do, having slightly conflicted feelings about snooping around in other people's business. ‘No, you have to do this,’ they told themself. ‘If you don't know what's wrong, how are you supposed to fix it?’ 

‘Good point,’ they told themself. Soft footsteps broke them from their thoughts, all three of their heads turning towards the sound. Sans appeared in the doorway, glancing at the small hole in the wall, the still broken door, and the board in the hall. “St-still haven't figured o-out what to do?” He asked. 

His brother shook his head, “No, I took off the board since it wasn't doing any good there, other than that there has been no progress here.” Sans stepped inside looking at the exposed parts of the wall where the door would be attached. He turned around and looked at the other side of the doorway. His eye lights brightened a little and Frisk tilted their head. 

“Maybe w-we can switch the b-boards,” Sans suggested. Blank looks were on their faces, leading him to elaborate. “They’re th-the s-same size, same c-color even, a-and the damage o-on the one board w-won't affect much.” He gestured towards the center of the remaining board, which had the small holes outlined with metal for the lock to click shut and the other parts to stop in so the door would stay closed. “I-it's in the center, and the c-center of that board isn't d-damaged. Neither is the sp-spots for the hinges on this o-one.” 

It was quiet for a second while it was thought over. Papyrus broke the silence, “That just might work.” Flowey did his best to imitate a shrug, “And it's not like we really have any other options right now, so I think it's a good idea.” Frisk nodded in agreement, smiling. They sat down on the edge of the bed while Papyrus walked to the other board, his brother quickly stepping out of his way, and started to remove the nails in the board. 

The board was quickly off the wall, the tall skeleton managing to catch it before it hit the ground. The wall was exposed on both sides of the doorway now, revealing even more pink stuff. Frisk timidly tugged on Sans’ jacket sleeve, making him turn around to face them. “C-... Can I touch it?” They asked. 

Sans ruffled their hair, “I-I wouldn't advise it. That's i-insulation, if you t-touch it it’ll make y-your hand really itch…” Frisk felt a little disappointed but they’d get over it. After all, there still was a more pressing matter at hand. Suddenly, Sans snickered to himself, breaking the momentary silence. 

“Heh… One t-time when I was little I w-was helping someone out with a machine, th-there was a hole in the wall for the wires. I thought that o-one of the wires was fried back behind the outlet, so I removed the cover. I stuck my hand r-right into the insulation. By the time I f-found the broken wire and took my hand out to tell him, it felt like it was on fire.” He chuckled to himself again, “I had to hold m-my hand under water and wash it for hours…” 

Frisk looked at the gaps in the wall as if it had offended them, which was extremely hard to do by the way. “Well, I don't think I'll be touching insulation anytime soon… Or ever.” Sans grinned at them. Flowey cleared his throat, getting all their attentions. 

“I think it might be a problem trying to get a screw directly through wood,” he said, sarcasm lacing his voice. Frisk nodded in agreement. “Any thoughts?” He asked everyone, searching for yet another bright idea to solve one of the many uprising problems they were having. It was seemingly impossible, which was perplexing to him, it was just a freaking door! They should have this problem solved by now so they could work on solving the mystery at hand. 

The older skeleton sat down, asking his brother to hand him the boards. He carefully laid them out, trying to align them horizontally. “A-anyone know where we can f-f-find a ruler and something t-to write with?” Frisk hopped off the bed and walked down the hall, presumably to the storage room. They were back a moment later, a measuring tape and a pencil in hand. 

Sans thanked them, then set to work. He laid out the measuring tape across the two boards, their combined widths adding up to three and a half inches. (IF YOU WANT CENTIMETERS DO IT YOURSELF! I already had to correct so much doorness… ITS JUST A DOOR THIS SHOULD NOT BE THIS HARD!). Sans quickly measured where the holes would need to be, tracing out the approximate dimensions to each of area that would need to be removed for screws. After a minute it looked like the boards were exactly the same, except some features were in the pencil instead of holes in the wood. 

“Do w-we have any screws that m-match the old o-ones?” He asked them, looking up from his spot on the floor. Papyrus sighed, supposing it would be something along the lines of his turn to go to the storage room since both Frisk and Flowey had gone to retrieve something before. He turned around to walk out of the room, “I'll just get the box.” With that, he left and returned a minute later with the box of screws and hinges. 

Papyrus handed the box down to his brother, who nodded thanks and started to sift through the box. Frisk handed him one of the small nails, one of the hinges, and one of the screws, they figured that he would need the old items for comparison and tried to get the ones that were least damaged. Sans looked over all the items, quickly finding the four required nails. After he counted all the holes on the hinges and realized that he would need ten screws for each hinge, and with two hinges he figured it would take a while. 

He asked Frisk and Flowey to start looking for the remaining items in the box. Sans grabbed one of the screws and the boards before standing up and walking over to his brother, who was leaning against the wall. “H-here's how I'm planning on p-pre-drilling the holes,” he told his brother, summoning up his magic. “T-try to make I-it look like the center o-of the screw,” he said beginning to demonstrate.

Sans summoned a bone and brought it up to eye level, holding up the screw. He altered and changed the attack so that it was almost the same as the screw, but without the spiral. It was only a little bigger so that there wouldn't have to be excessive amounts of force to secure the hinge in place. He then pulled up the less damaged board and carefully aligned his attack with one of the holes traced in pencil, slowly shoving it through the wood until the tip of the red bone stuck out the other side. 

He pulled it out and looked up at his brother, “you th-think you can do that, Pap?” Papyrus nodded, preparing his magic and grabbing the other board. His brother handed him the screw before continuing to punch holes in the board. 

It was very efficient for every one, two of them working on finding the required parts and pieces, the other two preparing the rest of the materials. Everyone was so focused on their tasks that they had not realized how quiet it had become. After the skeletons finished ‘drilling’ holes and we're now working on removing and replacing the hinges on the door. Toriel poked her head into the room. They had all been so focused that they didn't hear her come in. 

Toriel smiled, then gently knocked on the wall. Everyone looked up from what they were doing, all eyes turning towards her. “Hey, Tori,” Sans said. She smiled a little wider. “How is it coming?” she asked them, not wanting to say that their sudden silence had worried her. 

Frisk held their hand flat, tilting it from side to side as if to say ‘so-so’. Sure it was going pretty well now, but there had been more than a few setbacks. “Aha! Finally!” Flowey exclaimed, fishing out the last screw they needed. She glanced over all they had done. “It looks like you can almost start,” she said. 

A few heads nodded and Papyrus got up, asking for the hammer and nails. They watched as he quickly reattached the boards, but this time to their newly designated sides. As soon as they were up, Toriel walked over to the door, “here, allow me to help.” Then she lifted the door straight off the ground, surprising everyone. 

Papyrus moved out of her way and let her hold the door up in place so they could attach the hinges. Another small assembly line was created, Flowey finding the parts from their piles, handing them to Frisk, who handed them to Sans, who held them in place with his magic while Papyrus screwed them in. 

Everyone took a step back, letting go of the door. It creaked in its hinges for a second… But didn't break. Papyrus slowly moved it back and forth to make sure it wouldn't break. The door held firm and they all smiled for their victory. “Alright everyone,” Toriel said, the grin still on her face. “Who wants lunch?” 

Frisk’s stomach grumbled in response, along with everyone else agreeing to go and eat. It was not like this was just a done and done job here, it had taken a few hours to finish gathering everything, collect the needed parts and actually fix the door. Time had gotten away from all of them, it was a little past what time they would have all eaten, so they were all hungry. 

Everyone had a sandwich of some kind prepared by Sans. Well, everyone except Flowey, who just wanted toast. When asked why, he responded, “I just want some toast!” 

The meal went along smoothly and when everyone was finished Toriel began to gather the plates and cups. Frisk glanced over to Flowey, who darted his eyes towards the skeleton brother's room. He was right, they still had a mission to accomplish today. “I'm going to do my rounds,” Papyrus announced, standing up from his chair and carefully pushing it under the table. 

The older skeleton handed his glass to Toriel, “I’d c-come with you b-but I have to help with the d-dishes.” Papyrus said it was fine, but there was something in the way he said it that lead Frisk to believe it wasn't. Flowey dipped his head a little, trying to signal for Frisk to do something. 

“I'll help mom with the dishes, Sans,” Frisk said. The corner of his mouth turned up into a smile, “R-really kid? Th-thanks.” He got out of his chair, pushed it in, and ruffled their hair a little. “I owe y-you one,” he winked and smiled at his brother before they both exited the Ruins, the voices of Toriel, Frisk, and Flowey telling them goodbye trailing after them. 

Flowey gestured towards the room again but Frisk had to shake their head. They had just told Toriel they would help with the dishes after all, and it's not like they could back out now. Toriel walked back into the living room, pushing her chair back into its spot in the living room. “That was very kind of you, my child,” she told them. Frisk grinned, then following her into the kitchen. 

Toriel put her gloves on and ran the warm water, allowing Frisk to pour the soap in like yesterday. She thought back to their little bubble fight and smiled. The played went in and were carefully scrubbed with the sponge until the plate shone a brilliant cream color. Then it was handed to Frisk, who dried it and set it to the side. 

This went on for a few minutes before they looked to the side and noticed Flowey taking the cleaned dishes and putting them up in the cabinets. Flowey gestured towards the skeleton brother’s room again when he saw that Frisk was looking at him. He moved one of his vines around in a circular motion, like a clock. It clicked, he was helping out so they could make sure Toriel was distracted doing something else while they went in there and looked around. Putting up the dishes wouldn't have taken her very long and she might have come to check on them and discovered them snooping around. 

They gave him a thumbs up just as Toriel looked over. “Oh,” she said, “thank you for helping too, Flowey.” He nodded, taking the glass that Frisk held out to him. They finished in less than ten minutes with all three of them working the three different jobs to get it done as fast as possible. This was good, Sans and Papyrus couldn't have gotten very far since they had to worry about the traps and puzzles this time, and if they could get Toriel to sit down and read a nice long book or bake something they would be golden. 

The ex-Queen took off her gloves, setting them to dry on the counter. She sighed, “I am going to read for a while, my child. You two may do what you wish, do not hesitate to call me if you need me.” She bent down and gave them a hug, “thank you for the help.” 

She left the room, leaving Flowey and Frisk alone in the kitchen. “Now we can go,” they said with a small, mischievous smile. The flower disappeared into the ground, presumably reappearing in the skeleton brother’s room. Frisk stepped down from the stool they had been standing on to reach the counter and walked into the living room. They made sure to look as normal as possible walking through, as not to arouse any suspicion. 

As soon as they were in the hallway, Frisk tip toed into the room as silently as possible. They flipped on the light, spying Flowey looking through some backpack on the ground. “What's in there?” They asked him. He pulled out some blue paper with white lines and something written in a language they couldn't read on it. Both of them analyzed it for a second. “Looks like blueprints for something,” Flowey said, putting it back in the bag. 

They both continued to search for a few minutes, looking through drawers and glancing inside the other bags. Frisk dropped down and looked under the bed. They didn't see the book, but they did spy another backpack, which they promptly pulled out from its hiding spot. It was black with red decal and red zippers. It sorta matched what the skeletons wore, now that they thought about it. “Hey,” they said quietly, “come here, Flowey.” 

He popped up next to them as they pulled out a large book, the same one they had seen Papyrus reading last night. Frisk could feel their heart sink some as they looked at it. Something didn't feel right about it, and they were a little afraid to open it. Flowey looked at them and saw them hesitate. He put a vine on their shoulder to try and comfort them, “it's okay, Frisk. We'll handle this together.” 

They nodded, took in a deep breath, and opened the book to its first page. Maybe there was a title there, one that would tell them if they should stay away from it. Instead, it was blank. They flipped the next page and some sort of title page appeared. It read ‘property of Sans Aster’ and read in smaller text beneath it, ‘small scrapbook and journal’. 

The two of them exchanged sideways glances before turning to the next page. It was dated nearly twenty years before, and the smell of old book finally reached them. Frisk quite liked it actually, Flowey just thought it was weird. Frisk read the small passage below the date aloud, “Hello, reader. This is Sans, the author of this journal. Dad said it might be a good idea to write some things down, so he got me this empty book. I can tell that it's not from the dump either, stuff from there stinks for ages,” Frisk snickered. 

There was a little more written beneath where Frisk cut off, but they decided that there wasn't anything else on this page they might need to know. They skipped a handful of pages, turning to a random spot in the book. There was a picture of Sans as a child, without the crack or the gold tooth, wearing a much too big lab coat. He was smiling widely, the sleeves and end of the lab coat dragging on the ground. A tiny Papyrus was underneath the dragging leg the of the coat. They couldn't be more than six and two years or so. 

Apparently, their father had been some sort of scientist and that day he had actually made Sans his official apprentice, a fact which he had been very excited about. Frisk made to flip past quite a few more pages, but the flower stopped them. “I haven't seen any of this before, and it's not like either of them would talk about this stuff, at least not to me…” He stared at the pages, “I'd like to see a little more, Frisk. I'm trying to connect the dots, but I need to see more to do it…” 

With a small sigh, they obliged, letting go of about half the pages they had been about to flip. They flipped through some passages of the brothers taking a trip to Waterfall, meeting Alphys, the daughter of a doctor and friend of their father’s, to experimentation with the idea of timelines and alternate universes. While there was a lot of different notes about the research, it was apparent that Sans also spent plenty of time with his brother. 

Or, he had until one day something happened. It was never specified, but the device that Sans and his father were working on had exploded, and it seemed that his father had ceased to exist. The next entries, which were sparse according to the dates which they were written, told a sad tale of the two brothers trying to survive the kill or be killed world. After a particularly large gap of time passed, almost a year, it turned out that the skeletons brothers had gotten jobs in the royal guard, both as lowly sentries, but it was more than enough for them to buy a house and actually have a stable income. 

During that time, Papyrus had grown more distant, rising through the ranks of the guard like no other, becoming second in command within months. While he rose in position, it seemed that how he treated his older brother got worse and worse. Frisk teared up and started to cry silently as they read more and more. They had no clue that either of them had gone through this. 

Beatings became frequent, yelling and anger was constant, and entries became few and far between, skipping months at a time in most cases. One page they saw had angry scribbles on how the older skeleton hated himself and even blamed himself for how his brother treated him, reasoning that it was his failure to provide when they were kids that led to this punishment now. 

“Of course,” Flowey mumbled, having a small epiphany. “Sans told me he ran here and that Papyrus had apologized for everything after he found them and came to his senses… Then they stayed here and…” He looked down, blinking away his years of past resets come to haunt him. 

They were so busy looking at the book that neither of them noticed light footsteps getting closer. By the time Flowey looked up, it was too late, and the skeleton they had been reading so much about now stood in the doorway, concern on his expression. Flowey disappeared to somewhere else in the room, unable to face him at the moment. “Frisk?” Sans asked, quickly walking over to them. “A-are you al-”

Frisk interrupted him as they leaped forward and hugged him tightly, letting some of their sobs escape into his jacket. They felt so bad for him, never knowing that he had gone through that they felt like they had done something wrong. “I'm so, so sorry, Sans,” they choked out, repeating it a few times. They managed to speak through their sobs, “I-I never knew you h-had to go through that.” 

Sans raised an imaginary eyebrow, “what a-are you talking about?” Both Frisk and Flowey heard the unease in his voice. The flower popped out of the ground, using two of his vines to pick up the now closed book, presenting it to him. His eye lights instantly went dark. Frisk let go and looked at him for a second, noting the overwhelming shock that seemed to radiate off of him. “Where did you get this?” He didn't stutter this time. 

Flowey quickly answered, “w-we saw Papyrus with it last night when he was crying and-”. Sans took the book from his grasp, staring at it in disbelief like he couldn't process the fact that it existed here and now. He walked out of the room without another word. 

They glanced at each other for a second, which was all the confirmation they needed to follow him. Papyrus was on the couch, in the process of solving a Rubix cube, and Toriel was sitting in her chair reading. The shorter skeleton walked right up to his brother and practically shoved the book in his face, getting the attention of Toriel immediately. “What is this doing h-here?” He asked, eye sockets still devoid of light. 

Papyrus dropped the cube when he saw the book, guilt creeping onto his expression. “U-um…” He, for once, didn't have an answer. His brothers eye lights returned, “th-this shouldn't be here, it should b-be rotting in Snowdin!” Sans rose his voice, something he rarely did, “there is n-no need to torture yourself like th-this!” 

There were tears in his eye sockets, and both the monsters that were sitting down rose to their feet. “This isn't nearly as bad as what I put you through,” He said, tears lining the edges of his eyes. “I deserve much worse than this,” the younger brother added, a tear escaping and making its way down his skull. 

“Sush,” Toriel jutted into the conversation, “I thought we agreed not to discuss this around Frisk.” Frisk felt determination burning brightly in their soul, but their emotion shot the better of them and before they could think twice, they spoke. 

“We told him, mom! We read it and showed Sans, and now I know how cruel Papyrus was to him!” They regretted saying it as soon as the words left their mouth, both Toriel and Papyrus looked completely shocked. Sans tried to explain to Toriel before she got even more worked up, “it's a-a journal I kept s-s-since I was a kid, and Tim-may or may not have-”. Papyrus interrupted him, “recollections of every horrible thing I did to you!” his tears fell faster. 

Toriel gasped, “what?” Suddenly, before anyone could stop it, there was a full-blown argument going on. toriel and Papyrus both felt bad, though Sans told his brother that this was not the way they did things, saying that suffering does not make up for past suffering. Everyone was yelling and crying, and it seemed that no one but Frisk heard the dull thunk from somewhere far off. 

They heard it again, so instead of listening to everyone argue, they went to go find out what was making the sound. They were led down a stairway near the front door, one that they had never thought to ask where it went. it got louder as they passed through a dimly lit hallway. 

When they reached the end, there was a large, purple door at the end of the hallway with the same symbol that Toriel had on her dress. Without any warning, the door crashed inwards in a cloud of dust. Frisk could not help but scream as a small, cloaked monster with spiky armor and a tooth, evil smile stared at them after having broken the door. 

They didn't know his name, but we would know him as Dulio Mercer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just saw the total solar eclipse and it was freaking awesome! I hope everyone gets to see something like that someday! 
> 
>  
> 
> Also, you will never see what I have in-store for you >:3


	11. Up in Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The inhabitants of the Ruins home are forced to fight for their lives against Dulio, who has come looking for all of them.

A muffled scream sounded from somewhere in the Ruins. Everyone immediately stopped talking, falling silent at the sound. “What was that?” Toriel asked, her voice full of panic. “Where was that from?” She shouted, tears returning to her eyes. Instantly, the three monsters started searching. Flowey sat in shock for a moment before doing the same. He hadn't seen where Frisk had gone, he had been too busy trying to make sense of everything they just learned, but he was sure it was them who screamed. 

By the time he came to his senses, Toriel was searching the house with Papyrus and Sans had teleported to the Ruins to explore different spots to try and locate the source of the sound. It was amazing how quickly they had pushed aside their argument to work together to find Frisk. Pushing his thoughts aside, the flower joined the taller monsters in searching the house. 

In only a few moments the whole house was deemed clear of Frisk and the three searching the house gathered in the foyer. “Did you find them?” Toriel asked frantically. The others shook their heads, the panic beginning to get to them as well. 

Without warning, a green ax made a magic shot out from the stairs leading down to the exit, hitting the front door dead center. Not a second later, a battered and winded Frisk shot out from the stairs, running as fast as they could. Toriel grabbed them in her arms, holding them protectively to her chest. 

All three of them summoned their magic, ready to attack what- or whoever- was to come up from the staircase. A few seconds later, a dark figure emerged. They were fairly short, a cloak covering most of their body, but when Papyrus saw the dual horned helmet he stifled a gasp. Last time he had seen Dulio he had been replacing Sans as a sentry in Snowdin, that is if you didn't count the time they snuck behind him while trying to make back to the skeleton brother’s home. 

Recognition flicked in both their eyes, more so in Dulio’s since he saw the ex-Queen staring at him with a literally fiery anger in her eyes, fireballs ready to throw in her paws. He had never seen the monster child that clung to her chest, but that didn't matter. He would do as he planned, find the fugitive skeletons and anyone associated, and turn them in to King Asgore. He guessed returning the queen to him would be an extra bonus. 

“Leave this place, now,” she commanded, her eyes boring holes into him. Flowey thought he might burst into flame she was staring so fiercely. The intruder smirked, shaking his head slowly and creating another green ax, grasping it tightly in both his gloved hands. 

Papyrus lunged forward, striking out with his bone-sword. Dulio met his swing, aiming one ax for the sword and another for Papyrus’ skull. The skeleton’s leg swiped outward, trying to knock him down. He was too quick, jumped, and landed directly on Papyrus’ leg, stopping him in his tracks as he was slammed down onto the ground.

Toriel was quick, launching her own attacks at the invader. Instead of blocking the incoming fire, he simply pulled up his cloak over his head. The fire bounced off it harmlessly, dissipating in small puffs of dust a few seconds later. Frisk gasped and huddled a little closer to their mom. This wasn't good, if Toriel’s attacks didn't have any effect then it would be a whole lot harder to drive him out. 

The skeleton grimaced, his concentration had wavered for just a second and he could feel his grip on his attack slipping. He tried sending a few more bones at him all from different directions, but even in spots that weren't protected by his coat, his armor was enough to stop the attacks from doing any damage. 

Then his concentration broke, the bone in his hand disappeared, and the ax swung further down, coming to rest above his ‘throat’. Having forgotten about the flower in his battle with the fugitives, Flowey easily snuck up from behind Dulio and grabbed him by the neck with his vines. His plan was to remove the coat so that Toriel’s attacks would be able to damage him and all of their attacks would be more effective. 

He was able to yank off his coat until it came to the arm which currently held Papyrus at ax point, for that, he simply severed the fireproof fabric and it came flying off. Flowey threw it in a corner, and a split second later felt the vines clutching at their attacker’s throat being severed. He probably should have restrained that arm too now that he thought about it. 

Instead of panicking, he tried to grab his throat again, reaching for his arm as well. Papyrus suddenly summoned two more bones and used them to push the ax away from his neck. Toriel shot fireballs at him, most of them making direct hits since he was now trying to fight all three of them at once. 

With new energy, their attacker released Papyrus and turned his attention to the other two. Shooting more axes at them. Toriel spun around, taking a few hits but managing to spare Frisk from any pain. One of the axes tore through two of Flowey’s petals, which may not seem bad but felt horrible to the little flower, kind of like someone pulling out your hair. 

After the ax Papyrus had been battling had suddenly disappeared, with all the force he had been using to push against it now meeting no resistance they flew up, colliding with his armor and making nasty looking scratches, breaking through the armor in some spots. He pulled himself away from Dulio, his injured leg aching horribly.

A bright red flash illuminated the room, making everyone stop and look up. “I-I didn’t find them, d-did y-”’ Sans broke off, his mind getting one split second look at the chaos before him. Papyrus was injured on the floor, Flowey had torn petals and was still trying to fight, and Toriel, who was injured as well, was bending over Frisk, protecting them from harm. 

His anger skyrocketed, shooting past his breaking point in less than a second. Sans’ left eye shone red, and he immediately blasted the attacker, a barrage of bones following a split second later. They hit their target dead on. Sans then grabbed everyone else’s soul (and Flowey) and a moved them further away so he wouldn't hit them. 

Sans teleported to all different sides of their attacker in quick succession, slamming powerful magic attacks into him with every red flash. He came to rest in front of their attacker. Dulio was battered from the attacks and was doubled over in pain, Sans took the moment of weakness to summon a red bone and swing it at him with all his might. To his surprise, his enemy managed to summon an ax and tried to counter attack, but the force of Sans’ weapon was too much. It broke through the others magic, swinging right at his head. A second later, the bottom half of his helmet slid off, revealing a mouthful of pointy teeth. It appeared that he was some sort of satyr, and the human like skin threw Sans off for a split second. 

That was enough time for Dulio to summon his magic and attack everyone at once, with one quick glance and the flick of his wrist, the skeleton had gaster blasters in front of everyone. The axes hit the blasters harmlessly, the magic disappearing as soon as it made contact. Unfortunately, Sans always forgot to protect someone, and 99.9 percent of the time it was himself. Now was not that one time in almost several thousand times that he remembered himself. 

The last ax went straight into Sans’ chest, spraying blood into the air and onto the floor. He stumbled backward, Dulio grinning maniacally. The skeleton could feel his HP drop sharply, but he couldn't give up yet. Toriel, Flowey, and Papyrus joined in, sending bones and fire flying at their attacker from all directions. 

Toriel inched closer as she pushed him back, slowly closing the distance between them. The fire in her eyes had returned, and Papyrus recognize it from the battle he had with her. He internally shuddered at the memory. 

Dulio made an impressive stance on blocking the attacks, which got a little easier when Papyrus changed his attention from his magic to his brother. He could tell Ssns was in shock, which made him very nervous. A cry pierced the air. All heads turned to see that Dulio had grabbed Toriel, who despite being much taller than him was now being held at ax point. 

For a second, it was like time froze. No one seemed to know what to do. Frisk was on the sidelines, panicking and crying, with Flowey was by their side, trying to protect them. The skeleton brothers had their magic summoned and ready to fly, but they were afraid they would hit Toriel. 

Without any warning, Dulio pulled out something. It clicked, and he jumped down the stairs with Toriel still in his grasp. She screamed something, but no one could make it out. A small, almost spherical object flew to the ground near everyone. Two things happened next; one, Sans teleported, grabbing Dulio’s fireproof coat, then teleported again, holding it up over everyone. Oh, what about number two you ask? 

The bomb went off, exploding violently in the little house in the Ruins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAHHHHHHH! I know it was short! Fight scenes are just so hard to write though! Plus I missed some school and had to figure out a bunch of math on my own and I still don't get it... I'll ask about it tomorrow... 
> 
> I did see a little confusion down in the comments, it was Undyne that Sans almost killed, not Dulio. (Although now part of me wishes I killed him off XD) 
> 
> So, thanks to everyone for all the support! I am almost finished with the next part, so it should be out within the next two days. If it isn't it won't come out until six days after this; I always go to the lake for labor day weekend and spend time with my family, so I won't have my laptop with me. (Unless I have homework, but still)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	12. Leaving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone struggles with the aftermath of Dulio's destruction.

They were on the top of the mountain, running away from the flaming house in the distance. They didn't think they were being chased anymore. They were lucky to have escaped with their life. They saw a cave, running to the shelter it promised, but they didn't slow once they were inside. That would be their final mistake. They tripped… They looked up one last time, seeing the flames in the distance disappearing. 

And they fell… And kept falling…

Until finally- 

Frisk gasped, shooting up. They blinked, the darkness and the bright lights differing so greatly that they had to squint more than normal. Ash drifted down gently onto the fireproof coat. They sat up, the coat slipping off them. Their eyes widened as they took in the terrifying sight. It took all of their remaining self-control to not scream. 

The area in front of them which was the living room was almost completely destroyed. There was a huge hole in the floor, the boards around it burning and signed black. The table where they had eaten at so many times was broken in many different spots, so much so that it was almost difficult to imagine it had ever been part of one thing. Books were on fire, falling from the shelves to the ground, destroying the wooden floors further by spreading the flames. Not only that but their mom had been kidnapped...

They couldn't help but feel it was their fault. 

Tears welled in their eyes, threatening to fall. Even though they hadn’t been here for very long they still felt a deep attachment to the Ruins. It was the first place they had really been accepted and the feeling of having lost it hurt them deeply. The hurt struck so deeply that it took them a minute to realize that they were the only one awake. 

Panic hit them as soon as the thought crossed their mind. Frisk looked around them, trying to see anyone else through their tears. Remembering the brief moment before the explosion, they turned around and pulled the coat towards themself. Frisk sighed in relief, Sans, Papyrus, and Flowey were all there. 

Another bolt of panic shot through them, they still didn't know much about monsters but they were afraid that they were dead or seriously injured. He looked a little injured by what they could tell, with the damage Dulio had directly done in mind, they could tell that the explosion had hurt him in some places. Frisk bent down to Papyrus’ to listen for a heart beat, realizing a second too late that he was a skeleton and this would do nothing. To their surprise, they could hear a faint beating. They guessed it was his soul. 

They bent down to Flowey next, resorting to patting him on the hard since they had no clue where a flower’s soul would be. Frisk gently touched him on the head. He mumbled something but didn't get up. Their eyes briefly darted to his torn petal, unconsciously noting that some of his petals looked a little burned. 

Sans was the only other monster and Frisk felt a wave of nervousness wash over them. He did its look like he was doing too well if the giant slash across his chest was anything to go by. They were afraid to touch him for fear of making it worse. “S-Sans?” They asked quietly, coughing from the smoke. 

More tears came to their eyes. They looked over to the still form of his brother, “Papyrus?” No reply. They pulled their knees up to their chest, trying to calm themself. “Flowey?” They put a hand on his head again, shaking him gently. Silence greeted the again. 

Without warning, Papyrus shot up. “NO!” He screamed, reaching out to something that wasn't there. It took a second for his eye lights to appear, letting Frisk know that he was really seeing what was right in front of him. Disbelief, shock, and even despair swirled onto his expression. His head darted around, looking for his brother. He found him quickly, immediately moving to sit next to him. 

Frisk looked around for another second before Papyrus spoke to them. “Frisk… Are you okay?” He spoke softly, pulling his injured brother into his lap. They glanced down at themself, they hadn't really felt anything wrong but they knew it could just be the shock. Their boots were blackened on the bottom and their hair was a little singed, but other than that they thought they were fine. Frisk nodded, glancing back to the flower. 

Flowey’s expression was changing in his unconscious state, making Frisk a little worried. Then Flowey shook his head a little and opened his eyes, “Wha..?” He shook his head, blinking slowly. He lifted his head and stared directly at Frisk, narrowing his eyes. His face morphed, seeming to melt and reshape itself before their tearful eyes. His face now looked something like Toriel’s only younger and smaller. 

“Chara?” He asked, smiling warmly. Frisk blinked once and stared back, raising an eyebrow. Flowey looked a little confused, “It's me, your best friend.” Flowey turned his head a little, then looked them up and down. His eyes widened in realization, his face morphing back into his normal one. 

He opened his mouth to say something but faltered at the last moment. “Sorry,” he finally muttered. Frisk put a hand on his head, trying to feel sympathetic about something they didn’t know about. He glanced around, seeing the fiery destruction that lay around them. It seemed that none of them could believe what happened. 

Papyrus stood up, still holding his brother in his arms. “We should go,” he said, looking towards the staircase. “Gather your things, it should be safe to get them.” 

Frisk wiped their tears away with their sleeve, nodding while they did so. The shakily got to their feet and walked down into the hallway, making sure to avoid the scattered flames. Walking into their room, they noticed that Papyrus had been correct. There wasn't much damage done here other than some things knocked off the shelves from the blast. 

The flower popped up a second later, also examining the room. Getting to work, Frisk found their clean clothes drying on a chair in the room. They seemed fairly dry, so they folded them and set them on the bed. They weren't sure what the situation exactly was, so they weren't sure what to get. When they asked Flowey, he did his little shrug. 

“I don't know either, but it sounds like we’re going to have to leave and go out into the Underground… I'd pack based off what you really need.” Frisk nodded in agreement. They glanced at their clothes, then at the rest of the room. There wasn't anything they needed in here other than their clothes, and they could go without if need be. A brief thought crossed their mind, and they allowed themself to take one other item. 

The music box Toriel had wound up was added to the small pile on the bed. If he was thinking anything about it, Flowey didn't vocalize his thoughts. Frisk picked up their things and went back into the hallway. They didn't make it to the exit because they spotted Papyrus in his room, gathering some things from there. Just like it had been left, the newly repaired door was wide open. It looked untouched by what Frisk could tell, part of them wanting to roll their eyes as they realized the irony. 

They walked inside the room, spying Sans’ still form on the bed and Papyrus bent over the bags. A floorboard creaked, making the taller skeleton look up from his task. Frisk held out their things to him, watching as he put them into a backpack with some other clothing already inside. “Can you go get the first aid kit, from storage?” He asked them, trying desperately to keep up his front of ease. 

They nodded, turning back around to go retrieve it. Papyrus sighed in relief, glancing back at his injured brother. He wanted desperately to panic, to cry, to blame himself for not protecting his brother better, but he knew he couldn't. Sans wouldn't want him to do that. Anyway, he was the only adult actually here right now, he had to handle the situation and prevent mass panic. That would only make things worse. 

Papyrus had once prided himself on being able to take charge and remain calm, it's just that he had so much more hanging over his head if he were to fail now. He couldn't fail now at all times, not when those closest to him needed him most. 

Flowey popped up before Frisk entered the room, the flower with extra bandages and Frisk with the first aid kit. Papyrus gingerly took both the items, setting them down on the edge of the bed. “Does your arm need to be redressed?” He asked, thinking back to their stubborn injury. 

Pulling back their sleeve, the took a long look at their arm. It stung a little from being knocked back on the ground due to the explosion, but otherwise, it looked and felt fine. “No, it's okay,” Frisk pulled their sleeve back down. Papyrus nodded. 

Sans whimpered in his ‘sleep’. It appeared that he wasn't having pleasant ‘dreams’ either. His brother glanced worriedly at him before turning back to Frisk. “Would you go get some things for Toriel?” He asked them softly. Frisk looked a little confused, but mostly sad when he said this. His eye lights darkened, “Don't worry. He won't have her for very long, not if we have anything to say about it.” 

They felt a spark of hope in their soul, nodding and walking down to the room next door, Flowey following a second later. The door to Toriel’s room was closed, a dim curiosity that was still eclipsed by the shock from the explosion. It seemed like it was wearing off slowly, still overpowering all other emotions, but not completely blocking them out. Since they had never seen the inside of Toriel’s room, their curiosity peaked behind the shock. 

Frisk turned the knob, entering the room as soon as the door opened. They squinted once again, the dim light from the hallway not enough for them to be able to see clearly in the room. They found the switch next to the door and flipped it, the lights flickering to live and instantly making every detail in the space visible. 

Flowey appeared in front of them, wincing slightly from the bright lights. Not really knowing where to start, Frisk walked over to a set of drawers along the wall. They reached to the handle of the top most drawer and began to pull it out, but was stopped by their companion. “You shouldn’t look in there,” he said. Frisk raised an eyebrow, but complied, dropping their hands to their sides. “Her dresses are in the next one down,” he told them. They decided not to question how he knew that. (He’s not that much of a stalker, he just looked in her drawers once while he was still Asriel and assumed that it didn't change.) 

They pulled out a dress and set it on top of the drawers. “What else should we get?” They asked the flower. He almost shrugged but remembered something at the last second. He popped up next to the night stand by the bed and pulled something out of the drawer in it. Frisk instantly recognized it as an extra pair of her reading glasses. The other pair had probably been destroyed in the explosion anyway. 

“I think that's all,” Flowey said. The human nodded in agreement, grabbed the dress, and turned to walk out the door. They hesitated, spying something on top of the dresser they had previously searched. There was an open book, with some text circled in red. They read over it and smiled. It was a skeleton pun, undoubtedly one she used the previous night. Sadness filled their soul again, making them wish that none of this had ever happened. 

With a sigh, they both exited the room, turning off the lights and shutting the door as they left. Frisk turned into the next room, immediately taking notice that Papyrus was no longer in there. Sans was still lying on the bed, his wound and burns all patched up. They set down Toriel’s stuff by the bags before turning to the flower again. He shrugged, then dived down into the ground beneath him. 

Frisk cautiously walked into the living room, edging their way around holes in the door and flaming books. When they finally entered the living room, they say that compared to the other rooms it had suffered greatly. The smoke, although there wasn't much, burned their eyes and lungs, making them want to cough. Trying to distract themself, they began to look for things in the room that were no longer there. Before they could go into more detail looking for damaged or broken items than they had before, Papyrus came out of the kitchen. 

In his arms, to Frisk’s surprise, was Dulio’s coat, a bag of food, and a handful of knives. He threw down the coat on the fire separating the living room and the kitchen, walking across it like it was nothing out of the ordinary. “What do we need those for?” Frisk asked him, tilting their head a little before coughing. Papyrus stepped off the coat and picked it up. 

“You never know what we’re going to find out there,” he said truthfully. “I want to be prepared. We may not be here to protect you, and even if we are, there are some devices that can block a monster’s magic.” He held up one of the blades, seeing that it was slightly dull. “I figured kitchen knives were better than nothing.” 

Frisk felt unease settle in their stomach. They didn't want to fight or hurt anyone, and talking about going out into the Underground with what little they heard about it being so awful, it made them extremely nervous. Suddenly, a thought crossed their mind. They were still a little suspicious about Papyrus, so they chose their words carefully. “How do I know you didn't plan this?” They asked, becoming a little defensive. 

Papyrus raised an imaginary eyebrow, continuing to walk back to his room. Frisk followed, not wanting to be left alone without an answer. “What makes you think I knew about any of this?” He asked them, but he didn't give them any time to answer. “It's what you read right?” The slightly guilty expression on their face was enough of an answer for him. 

“Trust in this, Frisk,” he began, starting to put the items in the back packs. “If I really wanted this to happen, I would have left with him. Not just that, I would have helped him. I would have been rewarded greatly if I did too, Toriel in exchange for, forgiveness for slacking off on my duties, with your soul I'd be able to free us all…” He glanced at his unconscious brother on the bed. “I could have traded my brother in too, for almost dusting the captain. Surely I'd be put in charge of the guard and probably end up leading a revolution against humanity, but I'm still here.” 

They were silent for a moment, letting his words sink in. Flowey popped up, saying that he just informed the rest of the monsters to stay hidden deep in the Ruins. The skeleton nodded thanks before continuing to pack the last items in the bags. “Wait… If you all are trapped in the Underground and my soul would set everyone free, then why don't you just take it?” 

Flowey looked a little shocked, Papyrus did too for that matter. He regained his composure and resumed packing. “Two reasons actually,” he began to explain, both Frisk and Flowey listening in eagerly. “For one, I don't think that monsters like King Asgore deserve to be freed. Two, I made a promise to Toriel.” He zipped up the bags. “In order for us to stay here, she requested that we protect any human that fell down. I don't think either of them would forgive me if I broke it.” 

He hauled up the backpacks, weighing them with his hands before holding one out to Frisk. They took it, noticing it was not even as heavy as their school bag used to be. It was probably the bag with all the clothes it in, they guessed. Frisk bent down, holding their arm out for Flowey to crawl on. 

As soon as he did so, Papyrus had his brother in his arms and the bag on his back. They walked out of the room and down toward the stairs. Before they could go down them, Papyrus stopped for one last look. Frisk and Flowey did too, looking at the now mostly destroyed home in the Ruins for probably the last time. 

The hallway was dark and dim, scaring Frisk worse than it did the first time they had gone down in here, especially since they now knew where it led. It became colder as they walked, leading them to believe that Dulio left the door open. Maybe there was already someone there to ambush them. 

Papyrus was anxious too, his guard up just like the first time he had ventured in the hallway, searching desperately for his brother. Only, this time they were running from someone, and Papyrus was supposed to keep everyone safe as the only adult awake. Sans shifted in his arms, making him look down at him. 

He looked down just in time to see his eye sockets shoot open, his left flaming it's blazing red. He sat up quickly, so much so that Papyrus almost dropped him. “Sans, it's alright, I'm right here,” he quickly sputtered out trying to get his brother to calm down. It worked, his eye lights appeared in his sockets and he relaxed some. “P-pap? What h-happened?” He asked, concern and fear in his tone. 

Papyrus’ eye lights dimmed some, “We're leaving.” Sans leaned forward again to look around for the others. Frisk waved to him from behind his brother, trying to keep up the pace. He glanced around again before realization set in. “Where’s T-Tori?” His brother's eye lights almost turned black and disappeared. 

The older brother put his hands over his skull, tears forming on the edge of his sockets. He muttered ‘no’ to himself a few times before looking back up at his brother, who was feeling sad that he couldn't say anything to reassure his brother right now. “Y-you're okay, right? P-please tell me you, F-frisk, and Flowey are okay,” His voice sounded slightly desperate, and even though Frisk couldn't directly see him they could tell he was choked up. 

“Yes, we’re fine Sans,” he told his brother, holding him a little closer to his chest. The older brother leaned all the way back, letting himself relax in his brother's grasp. He sighed sadly, the weight of the situation taking hold. A minute or two later, they stood at the open door, out into the snow. 

With that, the two skeleton brothers, a flower, and a human all walked out of their home and into the rest of the Underground, unsure of what was to follow as soon as they took that first step outside the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH that too WAY too long to update!   
> I guess the long weekend and like five different tests this week got to me!   
> The good news is the only thing I'm doing this weekend is going to see a movie and doing my nails for Undertale's second anniversary, so I'll probably have plenty of time to write!  
> Does anyone have any requests or ideas for something special for the second anniversary? I would like to do SOMETHING special, I just don't know what. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading and see you next time!

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, it was short! Like I said, the next part is like almost finished, I've just been trying to figure out Flowey's character via writing a revamp of like my first fic... (Pls don't go read it, it's really bad) Anyway Flowey is in like the first half so I wanted to actually figure out how to write him.  
> I'm very sorry in advance for slow/ completely random updates, I don't know when I'll have time to write or post thanks to the end of the school year. So yeah, I have no clue when this will update again... hopefully within the next two days...  
> Bye!


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